3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

1 Origins and rise, 1918–33

Timeline
Key questions 1918 Nov: Germany is defeated in First World
• How did the political circumstances of Germany after 1918 War; a republic is declared
contribute to the rise of Nazism? 1919 Jun: Weimar Republic is forced to
• What part was played by the economic conditions of the accept the harsh Treaty of Versailles
1919–29 period?
1923 Jan: French and Belgian troops invade
• How did the Nazi movement develop between 1919 and 1929?
the Ruhr; massive inflation results
• How far did the circumstances of 1929–33 open the way for
Hitler’s rise to power? Nov: Hitler attempts the Munich Putsch
and fails
1924 Feb: Hitler is imprisoned in Landsberg
Overview Fortress (and released early in December) 63
• The Weimar Republic, which was set up in 1919, proved to be 1929 Oct: Wall Street Crash leads to
politically weak. It faced both left-wing communist rebellion and unemployment in Germany
right-wing conservative and nationalist opposition, focused on
the humiliating peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles. 1930 Mar: Müller’s Grand Coalition collapses and
• Economic conditions also proved unfavourable. When the Brüning becomes chancellor
French and Belgians invaded the Ruhr in 1923, hyperinflation
Sep: Nazis win 107 seats in elections
resulted, ruining middle-class savings. When US loans were
withdrawn, following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Germany fell
(18.3% of the vote)
into depression. 1932 Feb: unemployment reaches 6 million
• Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party thrived on the weaknesses of the Weimar
Republic. Promises to restore German prosperity, provide jobs Apr: Hindenburg beats Hitler in
and ‘smash’ the Treaty of Versailles proved to be what German presidential elections
voters wanted to hear. Jun: von Papen replaces Brüning
• In March 1930, the country’s last democratic government – the
as chancellor
‘Grand Coalition’ – collapsed and subsequent chancellors relied
on the president’s right to issue decrees (under article 48 of the Jul: Nazis win 230 Reichstag seats
Weimar Constitution). By July 1932, the Nazis were the largest becoming the largest single party
party in the Reichstag (parliament).
• President Paul von Hindenburg was persuaded to appoint Hitler Nov: Nazis win 196 Reichstag seats – a
as chancellor on 30 January 1933 following ‘backstairs intrigue’, sign that their support has passed its peak
which Hitler had worked to his own advantage. Dec: von Schleicher becomes chancellor
• The Reichstag Fire permitted a further law that allowed the
imprisonment of communists and helped to increase support for 1933 Jan: Hitler becomes chancellor
the Nazis in the March 1933 elections. Hitler forced through an
Feb: Reichstag Fire is blamed on the
Enabling Act, which gave him dictatorial powers over Germany.
communists
Mar: Nazis win 288 Reichstag seats;
Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial powers
for four years
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Denmark Sweden Lithuania

North Danzig was created a ‘Free City’
Schleswig and was to be administered by
Germany after 1919 To Lithuania
To Denmark after the League of Nations
Territory lost by Germany 1919 a vote (or ‘plebiscite’)
Demilitarised zone of the Rhineland East
Danzig Prussia

North
Sea
West ‘Polish corridor’
Prussia cutting off East Prussia
from Germany
Netherlands To Poland
Germany Poland
Upper
N
Belgium Silesia

Luxembourg To Poland

Saar Czechoslovakia

France Alsace
Lorraine

To France Hungary
Austria km
0 100
Switzerland 0 100
miles

Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925)

Friedrich Ebert was a socialist The impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the borders of Germany
64 leader who took over government
in November 1918 after the Kaiser’s
abdication. As elected president of
How did the political circumstances of
the Weimar Republic from February Germany after 1918 contribute to the rise
1919, he faced political instability, the
humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles,
of Nazism?
economic problems resulting from Before the First World War, Germany had been ruled by the authoritarian Kaiser
the war, the invasion of the Ruhr Wilhelm II. Although the German constitution of 1871 had made provision
and hyperinflation. for a Reichstag (elected parliament), this had never been allowed to develop
effectively, causing a good deal of political tension. It was partly to deflect
attention away from political troubles that the Kaiser had pursued an ambitious
foreign policy, which in turn led to the First World War in 1914.

The war destroyed the imperial regime. As defeat threatened in 1918, the Kaiser
tried to install a more liberal government. However, the country descended into
chaos with strikes and mutinies. The Kaiser abdicated on 9 November 1918 and
a republic was declared.

A new socialist government under Friedrich Ebert signed an armistice to end

the war in November 1918 and, in January 1919, a new democratic constitution
was drawn up in the town of Weimar. The armistice came as a shock to the
Germans, who had been encouraged to believe that their country would be
victorious. Nationalists claimed that the German army had been ‘stabbed in the
back’ by politicians who made peace when the army could have fought on.
Treaty of Versailles This was the
peace treaty imposed on Germany after The Treaty of Versailles in June 1919 caused further anger. Germany lost 13% of
the First World War by the victorious its territory in Europe, plus all of its colonies. It was left with severely restricted
allies – Britain, France and the USA. armed forces, a demilitarised Rhineland in the west and a corridor of land
given to Poland, dividing East Prussia from the rest of Germany. By forcing the
 1 Origins and rise, 1918–33

Germans to accept war guilt and binding them to pay reparations (finally fixed
at £6.6 billion in 1921), the humiliation of Germany seemed complete. Although self-determination This term
self-determination was applied to other parts of Europe, Germany was left with refers to the right of racial groups to
many ethnic Germans living outside its borders and Anschluss (union) with be settled in a country of their own
Austria was expressly forbidden. race and ruled by their own people.

The new constitution also contained some significant weaknesses, which were Anschluss This is the term used
to cause problems in later years. The voting system was based on proportional to refer to the joining together of
representation. This produced coalition governments and allowed small parties Austria and Germany. Hitler carried
to gain representation in the Reichstag. Constant governmental changes (with this out in 1938 to create the greater
14 coalitions between February 1919 and June 1928) helped weaken what German Reich (state).
support there had been for democratic government.

The constitution also gave considerable power to the president, who was to be
elected every seven years. The president appointed the chancellor (who ran the
proportional representation
government) and, under article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, had the power
Under this system of elections,
to rule by decree in an emergency. This power was used responsibly by the
electors vote for a party rather than
first president, Ebert, but the second, the old First World War general Paul von
a candidate. Parties can then choose
Hindenburg (1925–1934), chose chancellors from 1930 who could not command
deputies from a list, according to
a majority in the Reichstag and allowed article 48 to be used to pass measures
the number of votes cast for that
for which these chancellors could not get Reichstag approval.
party. The number of deputies in the
The political weaknesses of the Weimar Republic left it exposed to continual Reichstag would therefore correspond
political threats in its early years. The Spartacus League (Spartakusbund), an proportionately to the number of
extreme left-wing socialist movement, attempted to overthrow the Republic votes that party received in the
in January 1919. There was also trouble from communists in the Ruhr in March country as a whole.
1920 and in 1923 in Saxony and Thuringia. 65

Similarly, the right-wing conservative élite was lukewarm, if not hostile, towards
the Republic. German conservatism and nationalism remained strong and
Spartacus League Led by Karl
most ex-army officers, judges, senior civil servants and university professors
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg,
resented the new style of parliamentary rule. This continuation of nationalist
the Spartacus League was a radical
values favoured the development of right-wing extremism, of which Nazism
was to be one example, in Germany in this period.
socialist group. Its members were
the founders of the KPD (German
Street fighting in Berlin between government troops and the Spartacus League, during Communist Party), which was set up
the Spartacist uprising, January 1919 at a congress in Berlin held from 30
December 1918 to 1 January 1919.
The group remained committed to
violent revolution until about 1923,
whereafter it contested Reichstag
elections with some success. The KPD
and SPD (Social Democratic Party)
refused to work together, which was
one factor that allowed the Nazis to
come to power.

conservative élite This is the

name given to traditionally right-
wing aristocratic landowners,
industrialists, senior army officers,
judges and civil servants.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Source A
In the eyes of the right, the Republic was associated with the
surrender, a shameful and deliberate act of treachery, and the peace
treaty, a further act of betrayal. The fact that the new republican
institutions were democratic added to the hostility. It was openly said
that loyalty to the fatherland required disloyalty to the Republic.

Bullock, A. 1962 (rev. edn). Hitler, A Study in Tyranny. Harmondsworth, UK.

Penguin Books. pp. 58–59.

Question German nationalists showed their contempt for the Republic in the military
Kapp Putsch of March 1920 and the ‘White Terror’ of 1920–22, when 400
Why was the Weimar Republic regarded political murders occurred, many committed by the Freikorps. Hitler’s Beer
as weak between 1919 and 1924? Hall Putsch of November 1923, the first attempt of the Nazi Party to show its
strength (see page 67), was yet another incident in this long line of political
challenges. Although a failure, it reinforced the picture of the Weimar Republic
putsch an attempt to overthrow the as a struggling parliamentary democracy.
state.
The Republic enjoyed a more stable period between 1924 and 1929, when
Freikorps These were volunteer moderate parties made gains. From 1928 to 1930, a ‘Grand Coalition’ commanded
66 groups of demobilised soldiers who over 60% of the seats in the Reichstag. However, political problems had been
continued to fight for right-wing submerged, rather than gone away. From 1929, as economic problems worsened,
values. the parties of the Reichstag became so divided that in 1930 the Grand Coalition
collapsed, opening the way for the total breakdown of the democracy.

What part was played by the economic

conditions of the 1919–29 period?
The costs of war and the impact of the wartime blockade, compounded by the
reparations This term refers to a Treaty of Versailles, undermined the German economy. Returning soldiers could
fine for war damage that was payable not find work and valuable industrial land was lost. In 1923, when Germany
to Germany’s former enemies. could not meet the impossibly heavy demands for reparations set by the
victorious allies in 1921, the French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr.

To pay welfare assistance to workers, who were ordered to meet the invasion
passive resistance This term of the Ruhr with passive resistance, the government over-printed paper
refers to a refusal to work – in the money. This, plus the loss of production, provoked hyperinflation. Although
Ruhr, for example, a refusal to work hyperinflation was cured by a new currency in 1924, the loss of value in savings,
for the occupying troops of France which hit middle-class families particularly hard, caused lasting damage.
and Belgium. Furthermore, a shortage of domestic investment, which forced the government
to look for US loans under the 1924 Dawes Plan, was to place the economy in a
hyperinflation This term is used to dangerously dependent position.
describe a very high rate of inflation,
when money is so devalued that prices Although the years 1925–29 saw some improvements, agriculture never shared
rise constantly and excessive amounts in the boom. Prices remained low as farmers faced competition from Canada
are needed to buy everyday items. and the USA. However, it was the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 that once
Effectively, the currency becomes again sent the economy into crisis as the USA recalled its loans. This created
worthless. the desperate economic conditions in which democracy broke down and the
Nazis were able to rise to power.
 1 Origins and rise, 1918–33

How did the Nazi movement develop between NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische

1919 and 1929? Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) This is the full
name of the Nazi Party. Members were
The NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) or Nazi Party was just
called ‘Nazis’ in the same way that the
one of a number of right-wing political opposition groups that developed in
socialists were known as ‘Sozis’. Nazi
Germany in the early years of the Weimar Republic. Founded in Munich as the
came from the NA of National and ZI
Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or DAP (German Workers’ Party) in 1919 by Anton Drexler,
of sozialistische.
the party soon fell under the spell of Adolf Hitler.

After the war, Hitler worked as an army informant, ‘spying’ on left-wing political
groups for the authorities. On 12 September 1919, he investigated Drexler’s party.
He was attracted by its philosophy and decided to join. By 1 April 1920, Hitler
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)
had left the army to become a full-time political agitator. He gave the party its
Biography of early life
new name, its drive and a new 25-point programme, combining nationalist,
1889 born in Branau, Austria, the son
socialist, racialist, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic ideas (see Unit 2). In July
of a customs inspector
1921, he became the party’s chairman.
1907 was refused admission to the
Since the Nazis refused to recognise the Weimar government, no candidates were Viennese Academy of Art
put up for election before 1924, but the party steadily increased its membership 1908 failed again to enter the
and influence through the 1920s. In 1921, the SA (Sturmabteilung – originally a Academy; lived rough in Vienna,
‘gymnastics and sports division’, although it became a paramilitary force) was painting scenes from postcards
created and the Völkischer Beobachter (People’s Observer) was established as a Nazi 1913 moved to Munich in Bavaria,
newspaper. Regional branches or Gau were established and, by the end of 1923, Germany
the party had 55,000 members, although this was still a tiny number compared 1914 volunteered for military service
with a national German electorate of 38 million. and sent to the Western Front as a
dispatch runner; became a corporal
67
The Nazis attracted ex-soldiers and members of the Freikorps, who supported 1918 was recovering from a poison
the nationalist views of the party and seized on the opportunities it provided for gas attack when heard news of the
jobs. It also attracted conservative lower middle-class workers, lower ranking armistice
Bavarian civil servants and students fired with desire for political change. 1919 returned to Munich and served
in the army in an ‘enlightenment
It was not until November 1923 that Hitler’s name came to be known nationally project’ to investigate new political
when he attempted to seize control of the Bavarian government, as a preliminary groups
to marching on Berlin. In 1922, Benito Mussolini had taken control in Italy
through a ‘March on Rome’. Hitler was eager to carry out a similar coup.

On 8 November 1923, Nazis interrupted a political meeting in a Munich beer

cellar. Under duress, three right-wing Bavarian leaders, Gustav von Kahr, Otto
von Lossow and Hans Ritter von Seisser, were persuaded to agree to Hitler’s plan
to march on Berlin and establish a new government. Immediately afterwards,
however, Kahr contacted the police and army. On 9 November, Hitler and
General Erich Ludendorff led a column of around 2000 armed Nazis through
Munich. Shots were fired and Ludendorff was arrested. Hitler disclocated his
shoulder when his companion was shot and both fell. Hitler escaped but was
found and arrested on 11 November.

The Munich Putsch, or Beer Hall Putsch, failed, but it proved a propagandist
success. At his trial for treason, Hitler claimed that his actions had been taken
out of patriotic concern for his country. He was convicted of high treason, but
he was only condemned to the minimum sentence of five years, thanks to a
sympathetic right-wing judiciary.
Question
Hitler actually served just nine months, at Landsberg Fortress, which according How successful was the Beer Hall
to the historian Ian Kershaw was ‘more akin to a hotel’. He spent that period Putsch?
writing a semi-autobiographical book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) (see Unit 2).
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

68

Members of the SA during a training March outside Munich in 1923

After 1924, the Nazi Party changed tactics, tightening party discipline and
Fact contesting Reichstag elections. Hitler exerted the Führerprinzip (see pages 74–
Members of the SA were often called 75), demanding obedience because ‘he knew best’. The SS (Schützstaffel) was set
‘brownshirts’ because of the colour of up in 1925–26 as Hitler’s personal bodyguard and the SA was refounded in 1926,
their uniforms. It was by chance that with its distinctive brown uniforms.
the SA adopted a brown uniform. A
shipment of brown uniforms, intended New party organisations were also created, for women, students, young people
for German troops in Africa, fell into and teachers. These helped the party to direct its appeal to a wide spectrum of
Nazi hands and the historic decision society and to make more people and institutions aware of Nazism. Although
was made to clothe them this way. the relative prosperity of 1925–29 did not help, Nazis pursued some energetic
recruitment, concentrating on the middle class and the farmers of northern
Germany who did not benefit from Weimar’s ‘golden years’. This yielded some
success, although the results of the elections of May 1928 were disappointing –
golden years This term refers to the
the Nazis won only 12 seats (2.6% of the vote).
period between 1925 and 1929 when
the Weimar economy flourished with
However, Hitler gained more publicity by joining the DNVP (Deutschnationale
the help of US loans. Volkspartei, the right-wing German National People’s Party) in campaigns
against the 1929 Young Plan, which had been negotiated to ease the reparations
burden. By December 1929, membership had risen to 178,000. Nonetheless, it
would have been hard to predict at the end of 1929 that Hitler would become
the German chancellor just over three years later.
 1 Origins and rise, 1918–33

Fact
Central to Nazism was the belief that
Source B the leader’s ‘will’ was the source of all
political authority. This Führerprinzip
No realist could have reckoned much to [the Nazis’] chances of winning was cultivated even before Hitler
power. For that, Hitler’s only hope was a massive and comprehensive crisis became chancellor and could claim
of the state. He had no notion just how quickly events would turn to the to be above the law. Hitler demanded
party’s advantage. But on 24 October 1929, Wall Street crashed. The crisis unquestioning obedience. He was
Hitler needed was about to envelop Germany. not prepared for others to challenge
him – as the Strasser brothers tried to
Kershaw, I. 1998. Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris. London, UK. Allen Lane/Penguin
do in 1926 – nor was he prepared to
Books. p. 311.
bow to the will of the SA who pressed
for a revolution in 1932–33, while he
sought power by legal means.
How far did the circumstances of 1929–33 open
the way for Hitler’s rise to power?
The 1929–30 withdrawal of US loans and the collapse in the export market had
catastrophic repercussions for Germany. The ‘Grand Coalition’, formed under Fact
Chancellor Müller in 1928, seemed powerless as unemployment soared from Between 1928 and 1932 the political
2 million in 1929, to 4.5 million in 1931 and nearly 6 million in 1932. parties became increasingly divided.
On the left, the Social Democratic
Around a third of all Germans found themselves with no regular wages. This Party (SPD) and communists (KPD)
was fuel for extremist parties, such as the Nazis (and also the communists), refused to work together. The formerly
who mocked the government’s inaction and made wild promises that they held moderate Catholic Centre Party 69
the key to future prosperity. (Zentrum) became more right-wing.
This left the moderate liberals without
The Nazis played on their claim to be a ‘national party’ that would keep out
allies. The right-wing conservatives
communism, uphold law and order, return to traditional middle-class values
(DNVP) sought more authoritarian
and restore national strength. However, they had no specific formula to end
government and had some sympathy
the slump and their promises of full employment, subsidies to help German
with the Nazis. Unable to agree on
peasants and aid to small-scale traders remained vague.
the necessary cuts needed after
With the break-up of the Grand Coalition in March 1930, there followed five October 1929, the coalition broke up
Reichstag elections in three years. Chancellors Heinrich Brüning (March 1930– in March 1930.
May 1932), Franz von Papen (June 1932–November 1932) and Kurt von Schleicher
(December 1932–January 1933) struggled to rule without parliamentary
majorities and were propped up by the use of the president’s decree powers.

Meanwhile, the Nazis kept up the pressure with, according to the historian
Alan Bullock, ‘a display of energy, demand for discipline, sacrifice, action and Fact
not talk’. In the Reichstag elections of September 1930, the Nazis obtained 107 In the first round of the presidential
seats – a huge increase on its previous 12. Hitler also made capital out of the elections, in March 1932, Hitler won
presidential elections of 1932 when he challenged von Hindenburg and forced 30.2% of the total votes cast and
a second vote. forced a second ballot. He visited
21 different towns by plane in a week
In the Reichstag elections of July 1932, the Nazis won 230 seats and became the
and increased his share of the vote
largest German party in the Reichstag. However, with just 37.3% of the vote,
in the second round in April to 36.7%.
they had less than an outright majority and they were financially exhausted
after two elections in quick succession. Hitler refused Hindenburg’s offer of the
vice-chancellorship, wanting only the ‘top job’, but he found it increasingly
difficult to restrain the impatient SA, who believed that they should grasp
power by revolution.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Source c
On 8 August 1932, Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary:

The air is full of presage. The whole party is ready to take

over power. The SA down everyday tools to prepare for this.
If things go well everything is alright. If they do not it will be
an awful setback.

Bullock, A. 1962 (rev. edn). Hitler: A Study in Tyranny.

Harmondsworth, UK. Penguin Books. p. 218

Activity Another Reichstag election, in November 1932, saw Nazi support decline to
196 seats. This suggested that the Nazis’ electoral fortunes had peaked. Joseph
Draw a horizontal timeline to illustrate Goebbels, director of propaganda from 1929, commented, ‘This year has brought
the results of the Reichstag elections us eternal ill luck. The past was sad, and the future looks dark and gloomy; all
between September 1930 and chances and hopes have quite disappeared.’ Furthermore, the KPD, which had
November 1932. Beneath the line, add won 89 seats in July, increased their vote by 17% to obtain 100 seats in November.
a few notes on each election to explain However, it was to the Nazis’ advantage that the communists refused to co-
the significance of the result. operate with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) (who had 121 seats) and that
the KPD’s electoral victories and huge presence in the streets had the effect of
frightening the conservative élite and encouraging them to turn to Hitler.
70
Chancellor von Papen found himself faced by a hostile Reichstag and even
considered using the army to force its dismissal as a prelude to adopting a
new German constitution. However, this course of action was opposed by von
Schleicher, minister of defence, who feared civil war. Hindenburg tried to prop
up von Papen’s government but, when this proved impossible, he dismissed the
chancellor and turned to von Schleicher to form a government. Von Schleicher
became chancellor in December 1932.

Von Schleicher had rather optimistically hoped to be able to lure the more left-
wing ‘socialist’ element of the Nazi Party, under Gregor Strasser, away from
mainstream Nazism into a coalition with the SPD under his own control and,
for a short time, a potential party split added to Hitler’s anxieties. However,
Hitler demanded and won ‘total obedience’ from his followers, and Strasser
resigned. Von Papen, infuriated by von Schleicher’s actions, was encouraged to
look to Hitler as a potential ally in a Nazi–Nationalist coalition. The continuing
difficulties faced by von Schleicher’s government, whose refusal to increase
tariffs on food imports had angered influential Prussian landowners, served to
help Hitler’s negotiations. By 28 January 1933, Hindenburg had no option but
to dismiss von Schleicher and turn to von Papen once more. Both knew that a
future government would have to include Hitler.

Both von Papen and Hindenburg were convinced, however, that the Nazis
were in decline and that it was the right time to harness their energies. They
believed the Nazi Party was still strong enough to counter the threat from the
left, but that Hitler’s position was too weak to threaten traditional élite rule.
Consequently, they were prepared to offer Hitler the chancellorship, with just
two Nazi cabinet posts for Wilhelm Frick and Hermann Goering, alongside nine
nationalist ministers.
 1 Origins and rise, 1918–33

Hitler was thus summoned on 30 January 1933 to head a government with von Question
Papen as his deputy. Hitler, Hindenburg and von Papen alike were content with
their ‘backstairs intrigue’. Von Papen believed that he had made a good deal and What were the long-term and
would be able to push Hitler ‘into a corner’ within two months. Hindenburg, too, short-term factors that led to Hitler
had little idea as to what the consequences of his action would be. Only Hitler becoming chancellor in January 1933?
had a clear idea of where he was going.

Hitler called for immediate elections and mounted another massive propaganda Fact
campaign. He was helped by the Reichstag Fire on 27 February 1933, which
On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag
gave him an excuse to blame the communists and ask Hindenburg to issue an
building was burnt down. The Nazis
emergency decree, ‘For the Protection of People and State’ (28 February). With
claimed this was the work of a Dutch
the power to search, arrest and censor ‘until further notice’, the Nazis were able
communist, Marinus van der Lubbe,
to remove opponents before the elections took place.
acting on behalf of the KPD. However,
there is no reliable evidence to prove
On 5 March 1933, the Nazis gained 43.9% of the total votes cast. While impressive,
this left Hitler reliant on other parties to obtain the two-thirds majority needed this was the case. There has been
to change the constitution. The conservative DNVP, which won 8%, offered speculation that Hitler or Goering and
support, but a deal had to be struck with the Catholic Centre Party, which had the SA provoked this incident as an
won 11.2%. This committed Nazism to protect the Church (see page 107). The excuse to act against their opponents.
emergency decree was also used to expel all communists from the Reichstag. Almost 50 years later, the West German
government pardoned van der Lubbe.
The end of Weimar democracy

Chancellors Developments

Heinrich Brüning • No majority in the Reichstag; relied on president’s emergency decrees

March 1930–May 1932 • Nazis became the second largest party with 18.3% of the vote in elections 71
of September 1930
• Government seemed weak and unable to control street violence although
SA was banned in April 1932
• Economic depression continued; proposed agrarian reforms angered the
powerful Prussian landowners (Junkers) and Hindenburg; Brüning resigned

Franz von Papen • Little Reichstag support and government formed from outside the Reichstag
June 1932–November • Tried to gain Nazi support by lifting ban on SA (June 1932) – violence grew
1932 • Relied on presidential decrees and ended democratic government in Prussia
• Nazis became largest party (37.3% of the vote) in July 1932; with communists,
held over half the Reichstag seats
• Nazis won 33.1% of the vote and communists 16.9% in November 1932; von
Papen resigned

Kurt von Schleicher • Persuaded Hindenburg to dismiss Brüning and von Papen but reluctant to be
December 1932– chancellor
January 1933 • Tried to ally with Gregor Strasser and ‘socialist’ Nazis, but Strasser refused
• Relied on presidential decrees
• Von Papen schemed against von Schleicher to get Hitler made chancellor
with von Papen as vice chancellor; von Schleicher dismissed
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

As the SA and SS whipped up support in the localities, in a piece of cleverly

timed propaganda President Hindenburg was persuaded to stand alongside
Hitler, in full military dress, at a ceremony of national reconciliation in Potsdam
on 21 March 1933. Consequently, on 23 March, the Enabling Act was passed with
only 94 SPD members voting against it. This was to provide the basis for Hitler’s
dictatorship. It virtually destroyed the power of the Reichstag by allowing the
chancellor to issue laws without consultation for a period of four years.

Question It took Hitler just four months after the Enabling Act was passed to set up a
single-party state. He was able to combine his legal powers and the threat
What was the significance of the
of force to remove or Nazify those groups or institutions that might limit his
Enabling Act?
power in a process known as Gleichschaltung. The constitution of 1919 was
never formally abandoned and the Reichstag survived, but in the first six
months of 1933, what lingering democracy there had been was destroyed.
Gleichschaltung This refers to For further information on how Hitler consolidated his position, see Unit 3.
a co-ordination process whereby all
German institutions were to conform End of unit activities
to Nazi ideals.
1 Make a diagram to illustrate why Hitler became chancellor of Germany in
January 1933, using the following layout.
Historical debate Long term Short term Catalyst Specific event(s)
The historians A. J. P. Taylor and
William Shirer linked the rise of
Nazism to the aggressive nature
of the ‘new’ German state forged 2 Find out more about those who voted for the Nazi Party in 1930–32. Research
72 by war in 1871. Karl Bracher the level of support for the Nazis, explaining which aspects of Nazism
emphasised the circumstances of each group found attractive and arrange your points under the following
Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. headings: working class; lower middle class (shopkeepers and office
Marxist historians associate the rise workers); upper middle class (businessmen, bankers and professionals);
of Nazism with capitalists’ attempts the élite (aristocracy, army officers, members of government); Protestants/
to resist communism. More recently, Catholics; northern Germans/southern Germans; others.
Alan Bullock and Ian Kershaw have 3 Make a Powerpoint® presentation for your class displaying a variety of
emphasised the personality of Hitler. election posters used by the Nazis to win support before 1933.
4 Make a spider diagram to illustrate why parliamentary government collapsed
in Germany in the years 1930–33.
Theory of knowledge 5 Divide into two groups. One group should seek to support the view that
Hitler’s rise to power was inevitable in the context of Germany in 1918–33;
Historical determinism the other should seek to support the view that there was nothing inevitable
about the Nazis’ rise (considering, for example, that the Weimar Republic
Taylor has suggested that Hitler was
could have survived or that power might equally well have gone to the
a product of Germany’s militaristic
communists). Each group should present its findings for a class debate.
history and that the Germans never
developed a democratic tradition 6 What was the personal contribution of Adolf Hitler to the rise of Nazism?
because they preferred strong, Make a four-column chart, with the headings, ‘Personality’, ‘Leadership
qualities’, ‘Communication skills’ and ‘Political strategy’. Under each
authoritarian government – which
heading, try to record as many points and examples as you can to support
Hitler continued. Is it possible to talk
the importance of this attribute.
of ‘national characteristics’? Can these
account for, and perhaps excuse, a
nation’s actions?
2 Ideology and the nature of the state

Timeline
Key questions 1908 Hitler begins to develop his ideas in Vienna

• To what extent was Nazi ideology rooted in the past? 1919 Weimar Republic is established; Treaty
• What did Hitler himself contribute to Nazi ideology? of Versailles is signed, which influenced
• How important was the role of ideology in Nazi Germany? Hitler’s thinking
1920 25-point programme is introduced
reconciling nationalism and socialism

Overview 1924 Hitler writes his semi-autobiographical

Mein Kampf while in Landsberg Fortress
• Many of the elements that made up Nazi ideology were already to
be found in 19th- and early 20th-century thought – for example, 1933 Hitler becomes chancellor and is in a
the belief in the superiority of the Aryan race, anti-Semitism, position to put ideology into practice
the cult of the leader or Führerprinzip, and the concept of the
1942 final details of the Holocaust are
survival of the fittest, known as Social Darwinism.
established
• Hitler brought his own belief in German nationalism to the
NSDAP and drew on the discontent
in post-war Germany to establish 73
a new doctrine of Nazism. In 1920,
his 25-point programme set out the
principles of nationalism, racialism,
anti-Semitism and Volksgemeinschaft
(community). In the 1920s and 1930s,
there was an increasing emphasis on
anti-communism, anti-feminism, the
need to prepare for war to combat
communism and obtain Lebensraum
(living space) in the east, and on the
aims of achieving racial unity, the
elimination of the Jews and total
authoritarian control.
• Ideology remained fluid throughout
the 12 years of Nazi rule and was
adapted according to circumstances.
However, it was used to justify policies
that seemed to make little practical
sense, such as the murder of millions
of Jews at a time when Germany was
suffering an acute labour shortage.

A poster showing Nazi anti-Marxism and anti-

Semitism; a Marxist ‘angel’ is walking hand-
in-hand with a wealthy Jewish businessman
and the text says: ‘Marxism is the guardian
angel of capitalism. Vote National Socialist.’
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Below is a list of Hitler’s main ideas, with brief definitions:

Idea Definition

Supremacy of the state and the belief that loyalty to the state is more
Volksgemeinschaft important than any other loyalty; people
should feel bound together by blood as a
single community

Social Darwinism the acceptance that life is a constant

struggle and, without interference, the
strongest will always win; this was indirectly
derived from Darwin’s theory of the survival
of the fittest

Lebensraum the right of the superior German race to

acquire living space for its peoples

Pan-Germanism – the supremacy of the German Aryans as the

Herrenvolk master race

Anti-democracy a conviction that democracy gives undue

weight to weaker peoples and mediocrities

Führerprinzip the principle that the leader’s will is the

source of all political authority; from this
developed the ‘cult of the leader’
74
Anti-feminism the belief that a woman’s role is as the
bearer of future Aryans

Anti-Marxism hostility to Marxism as an international

creed that weakens nations

Anti-Semitism a belief that Jews are the lowest race in the

social hierarchy and should be persecuted

Blut und Boden the belief that the blood of the community is
(blood and soil) rooted in the soil

To what extent was Nazi ideology rooted in the

past?
Most elements of Nazi ideology were absorbed from Hitler’s study of works that
ideology This term refers to a set grew out of the political, economic and scientific changes of the 19th century, as
of beliefs and ideas that characterise moulded by his own experience.
a political movement and provide
the principles from which its policies The superiority of the German race
derive.
The idea of a superior German Volk (the Herrenvolk or people) originated in the
writings of the philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder at the end of the 18th
century, at a time when Germany was divided into many separate states. The
term Volk (meaning a special race of people) was commonly used in the 19th
century and the German philosopher Georg Hegel proved a powerful inspiration
to subsequent German nationalists by suggesting it was the destiny of the
Germans to emerge as a single people in a strong unified state.
 2 Ideology and the nature of the state

Hitler’s desire to unite all people of German race, create a sense of national
community (Volksgemeinschaft), emphasise the superiority of the Germans
and demand a strong German state can all be traced back to these ideas. This
attitude is sometimes referred to as ‘pan-German’.

Anti-Semitism
The persecution of Jews was not unique to Hitler’s Germany. European Jews had
suffered for centuries, but by the mid 19th century most Jews outside Russia had
been assimilated into their communities, and laws, for example confining them
to ghetto districts, had been relaxed. However, the growth of industrialisation,
which provided Jews with new opportunities for money making, had led to a
revival of anti-Semitic feeling by the end of the century.

This rise in anti-Semitism was encouraged by writings such as those of the

Frenchman Arthur Comte de Gobineau and the Germans Paul de Lagarde
(an assumed name) and Julius Langbehn. Langbehn used vocabulary that
foreshadowed Hitler’s later ranting. Langbehn referred to the Jews as ‘pest and
cholera’ and as ‘poison’ polluting the purity of the Volk. When the journalist
Wilhelm Marr published The Victory of the Jew over the German in 1873, it was so
popular that it went into 12 editions within six years.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and most of the conservative élite of late 19th- and early
20th-century Germany were anti-Semitic in their views, although they may not
have expressed them in quite such an extreme form. Fact
Charles Darwin (1809–82) was
The cult of the leader – the Führerprinzip a British naturalist who studied
75
In the 1880s, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche put forward the idea evolution. He came to the conclusion
that, just as there were superior races, so there were superior individuals. He that animals become stronger and
suggested that a man with the ‘will to power’ was needed to lead the lower more adapted to their environment
orders and that such a leader would be naturally superior – an Übermensch over time as weaker specimens die
(superhuman). This idea was to be used to justify the Nazi idea of the Führerprinzip out, and features that are necessary
or indispensable leader. for their survival become more
pronounced. This is known as the
The contempt shown by Nietzsche for ordinary people was shared by the theory of the ‘survival of the fittest’.
French psychologist Gustave Le Bon. His Psychology of Crowds (1895) portrayed
most people as unthinking and easily swayed by their emotions. This too was a
direct influence on Hitler. Question
Struggle and the survival of the fittest Explain the link between Darwin’s
scientific theories and Hitler’s racialism.
‘The survival of the fittest’ was a phrase first coined by the British philosopher
Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology (1864). The idea came from the new
scientific ideas about evolution that were put forward in Charles Darwin’s On
Third Reich This term describes
the Origin of Species (1859). Darwin had never expected his theories to be used
the German state (literally empire)
to justify human action, but Social Darwinists distorted his ideas to argue that,
just like animals, humans, races and states were driven by an instinctive fight
in the years 1933–1945. It was known
for survival. They suggested that struggle and warfare were healthy activities as the ‘Third Reich’ because Germany
that allowed the best to rise to the top while leaving the weak to perish. had known two former empires.
Furthermore, in the fight for the survival of the strongest state, individuals The Holy Roman Empire (962–1806)
were unimportant. was referred to as the First Reich
and the German Empire, which was
A number of writers, including the German composer Richard Wagner, accepted established by Kaiser Wilhelm I in
these Social Darwinist ideas. Wagner’s operas, based on German folklore, were to 1871 and lasted until 1918, was
become favourites of Hitler. Wagner’s son-in-law, the Social Darwinist Houston known as the Second Reich.
Stewart Chamberlain, was celebrated as the ‘seer of the Third Reich’.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

What did Hitler himself contribute to Nazi

ideology?
The development of Hitler’s ideas before 1914
Four of the basic elements of Nazi ideology – the superiority of the German
Aryan This is the term used to race, anti-Semitism, the cult of the leader and the survival of the fittest – were
describe features from the Nordic/ already well established before Hitler emerged as a politician. Nazi ideology was
also shaped by Hitler’s own experience. His upbringing and his experiences in
Anglo-Saxon racial heritage, which
Vienna before the First World War (see page 67) helped to turn him into a fervent
the Nazis claimed was superior to
German nationalist and anti-Semite.
any other.
Hitler probably possessed a dormant anti-Semitism before his arrival in Vienna,
but it was here that he observed and read pamphlets, newspapers and books
swastika This term refers to an that reinforced his prejudices. He attended the operas of Wagner and read the
ancient religious symbol in the form anti-Semitic Viennese newspaper the Volksblat and the pro-Aryan monthly
of a cross with the arms bent at right journal Ostaria, which carried the swastika logo.
angles. It had been used by right-wing
groups in Austria and was associated Hitler’s time in Vienna also taught him to despise democracy. He hated the
with Aryanism even before Hitler ‘mediocrity and compromise’ that he witnessed from the public gallery of the
chose to adopt it. It became the Reichsrat (the Austrian parliament). He rejected the views of the Austrian social
best-known symbol of the Nazi party democrats, a socialist party devoted to the interests of the working man, but
and was used on flags, arm-bands he approved of their methods. He learnt from the way they swayed the crowds
and badges. through powerful speeches and threats.

Hitler also learnt from Austria’s Pan-German Nationalist Party founded by

76 Georg Ritter von Schönerer. Schönerer used the title Führer, held impressive
Fact rallies and adopted the ‘Heil’ greeting. This party wanted the ‘racially superior’
Hitler’s nationalist beliefs were first German-speaking lands of the Austro–Hungarian Empire to be reunited with
roused by his history teacher, Leopold the German Reich. Another major influence was Vienna’s racist mayor, Karl
Poetsch, a strong-minded nationalist Lueger, infamous for calling Budapest ‘Judapest’. Hitler’s ‘ideal’ party, bringing
who entertained his class with stories together elements that were both ‘national’ and ‘socialist’, seems to have been
of Germany’s past greatness. As a born in his mind through the fusion of these two Austrian parties.
German-speaking Austrian, Hitler
had no doubt that he was part of this
The development of Nazi ideology in the aftermath of
great Germanic race and his conviction
war
of German superiority sustained him The First World War ended disastrously for Germany in 1918. This provoked a
during his years of drifting in Vienna. bitter reaction in Hitler, who had served for four years as a soldier on the Western
Whatever his own condition, Hitler was Front. He believed the armistice to be ‘the greatest villainy of the century’ – a
convinced that he was better than any view typical of many who accepted the myth that the German army had been
of the cosmopolitan ‘rabble’ he was ‘stabbed in the back’ by politicians.
forced to associate with – particularly
the Jews. The creation of the Nazi Party was part of this nationalist reaction, although the
25-point programme of 1920 included a number of other fundamental principles
such as racialism, anti-Semitism, anti-democratic sentiment and the need to
work together for the greater good of the community.

Hitler’s ideas were brought together in Mein Kampf, which was written during
his prison sentence in Landsberg Fortress after the failure of the 1923 Munich
Putsch. The main messages of Hitler’s Mein Kampf were:
• Germany had to fight international Marxism (communism) in order to regain
her world power status.
• Marxism/communism was the invention of Jews intent on Jewish world
domination.
 2 Ideology and the nature of the state

A first-edition copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf (My Struggle), featuring the Führer on the
frontispiece

• National Socialism was the only doctrine capable of fighting communism.

77
Liberal ‘bourgeois’ or ‘middle-class’ democracy was the first stage to
socialism and communism.
• Nazism had to prepare the population for war in order to obtain Lebensraum
(living space) in the east. To achieve this there had to be racial unity, the
elimination of Jews, authoritarian control and no tolerance of diversity or
dissent.

The ideological principles of the Nazi Party in its early years were broader
than those that subsequently dominated. In the early years, the party Fact
embraced socialism, with demands for the abolition of unearned income, the Nationalised industries were run
nationalisation of businesses and the closure of big department stores in favour directly by the state. However, in
of the small trader. order to retain support, the Nazis
proposed that shareholders and
However, these socialist elements did not last long. Once the Nazis decided owners of enterprises should be given
to contest Reichstag elections from May 1924, Hitler gradually came to realise compensation in return for their
that it was only by associating with big business and the middle classes that he co-operation in this process.
could hope to win.

By the later 1920s, the nationalist aspects of Nazism were emphasised at Questions
the expense of the socialist. The nationalism that formed the core of Nazi
What is the difference between
ideology had a strong anti-communist element. This came in the wake of the
nationalism and Nazism? Was
Russian Revolution of 1917 and the spread of communism in the politically and
there anything new or unique about
economically unstable post-war Germany (see page 65).
Hitler’s ideology?
Anti-communism was also linked to Hitler’s racial theories, as he identified
prominent communists with Jews. Hitler’s other drive – the need to prepare the
Germans for war in order to obtain Lebensraum (living space) in the lands of the
Slavs in the communist USSR – was also a reason for his anti-communism.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Nazism also became an increasingly anti-democratic, anti-modern and anti-

feminist movement. The Nazis regarded all that was new and forward-looking
in the Weimar Republic as degenerate and weakening. This attitude was not,
however, unique to Nazism, since other conservative and nationalist groups
also disapproved of so-called ‘modernism’.
Questions
What really set Nazi ideology apart was the way nationalist intolerance was
What was the Nazis’ political platform combined with racial intolerance. Nazism embraced nationalist principles but
in the 1920s? What was the meaning added to them a belief in a new society to which only the racially pure within
of ‘socialism’ in the term ‘National the state belonged. If the ‘socialist’ element of National Socialism still meant
Socialism’? anything by the 1930s, it was this. Hitler himself put it clearly enough when he
said ‘We socialise human beings.’

How important was the role of ideology in Nazi

Germany?
Hitler’s emergent ideology and vision for the future played a key role in his rise
to power, attracting and inspiring followers. Once he was established as the
German chancellor (1933) and Führer (1934), he devised policies in keeping with
his fundamental beliefs.

Question Through Gleichschaltung (see page 72) he co-ordinated all aspects of the state
to serve his ends, and the idea of Volksgemeinschaft was spread through youth,
According to Nazi ideology, which community and workers’ organisations such as Beauty of Labour and Strength
sections of society would be included through Joy.
within Volksgemeinschaft?
78
The belief in the importance of competition and the survival of the fittest was
seen in the way policies were carried out. Intolerance permeated the regime in
its political consolidation and social policies. Nationalism underpinned Hitler’s
defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, while racialism led to actions against
minority groups and virulent anti-Semitism, through a series of anti-Jewish
actions and legislation.

However, while policies were shaped in the light of ideology, it was often the
case that practical politics prevented ideological principles being carried out
immediately, or in their entirety. The growth of Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies, for
example, displayed no coherent pattern. Persecution remained fairly low-key
until 1935, and there was no Holocaust until the years of war. Even then, it did
not come immediately. Similarly, it took six years before Hitler led his country
to war. When he did so, women, who had been forced out of the workplace in
1933–34, were again encouraged back into factories.

Furthermore, the name of the party itself (NSDAP – National Socialist German
Workers’ Party) had become meaningless by the 1930s. Although the Nazi
regime pursued a persistent ‘nationalism’, there was, by that stage, no longer
any ‘socialism’ for the benefit of the working class driving their programme.
Similarly, although Nazis continued to use the slogan Blut und Boden (blood and
soil) to emphasise the pure racial qualities of the German agricultural worker
(see page 108), it had become mere propaganda. The latter received scant
consideration and once Hitler was entrenched in power, the Nazis provided little
state aid. There was no national revolution in Germany, as had been promised
in the early 1920s. Instead, Nazism denied the existence of class differences
and channelled people’s energy into national expansion.
 2 Ideology and the nature of the state

Ideology was crucial to the success of Hitler as a single-party leader. However, Question
Hitler controlled how ideology was used to further his own political ends. He
was not driven simply by the desire to put ideological principles into practice, Which policy areas might you expect
but had his own agenda and moulded Nazi ideology to fit it. to be particularly influenced by Nazi
ideology? Why?

End of unit activities

1 Draw up a chart with the main characteristics of Nazi ideology on the left-
Historical debate
hand side and, when you have studied Units 3 and 4, add the policies that
appear to carry out those beliefs on the right. The main area of historical debate
2 Discuss the following questions. Did Hitler’s ideology offer: relates to conflict between the
a a new form of society intentionalist and structuralist
b a new social structure schools of thought. Intentionalists
c new values? (see page 89) argue that Hitler’s
3 Carry out further research into the writers and thinkers from whom Hitler policies were shaped by ideology
gleaned his views. You might produce a poster with summary details of the and that he knew from a very early
authors whose ideas came together in a new form in Hitler’s ideology. stage what he wanted to accomplish.
They see Hitler’s actions as part of a
4 There were some radicals within the Nazi Party who placed a greater
emphasis on the ‘socialist’ side of National Socialism than Hitler. Find out carefully conceived plan to translate
about the Strasser brothers and make a chart to show how their view of ideology into action. Structuralists,
socialism differed from Hitler’s. on the other hand, believe that
Hitler’s actions were moulded by
5 Choose a section of Mein Kampf that reveals an important aspect of Hitler’s
circumstance and that, while he had
ideology. Explain your chosen extract to the rest of your group.
broad ideological principles, the
actual detail of his policies evolved
Theory of knowledge almost haphazardly. 79

Ideology and historical motivation

• Is ideology essential for political success?
• Does a firm ideology always bring intolerance?
• What is the main quality that defines an ideology? Should it be revolutionary?
Should it be inspirational? (Can you suggest another quality?)
• What ethical issues arise from Hitler’s racialist theories? Are we likely to judge
such ethical considerations differently today from those living at the time?
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

Timeline
1933 Mar: Enabling Act is passed – the ‘Law for Key questions
terminating the suffering of the people • How did Hitler consolidate his position and create a one-party
and the nation’ – giving Hitler dictatorial state between March and July 1933?
powers for four years • What part did propaganda and repression play in Hitler’s
Apr: Law for the Restoration of the consolidation of power?
Professional Civil Service is passed • Why did it take until 1938 for Hitler’s power to be fully
consolidated?
May: all trade unions are dissolved and • Was there any organised opposition to Nazi rule?
workers forced to join the DAF (the German • Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state and was Hitler ‘Master of
Labour Front) the Third Reich’?
Jul: Concordat is concluded with the Pope
whereby the Catholic Church is banned
from political activity in return for a Overview
promise that its religious freedom will
be upheld; law is passed against the • Without removing the old structures entirely, Hitler nevertheless
ensured that the Nazi Party gained control over government at
80 formation of new parties (with KPD/SPD
both central and local level.
banned and other parties dissolving
• Hitler made sure that no sectional interests that might conflict
themselves, Germany becomes a
with Nazism would be able to exist, by banning trade unions
one-party state) and other political parties and concluding a Concordat with the
Nov: elections are held in which the Nazi Catholic Church.
candidates win 92.2% of the vote • Hitler made extensive use of propaganda to promote his
dictatorship, but also relied on the repression of his enemies,
1934 Jan: law is passed for the reconstruction including perceived enemies within the party – such as the SA,
of the state, placing federal states under which was purged in the Night of the Long Knives.
Reich governors • Hitler tried to bring all areas within the state under his control
but the army was too powerful for him to challenge immediately
Jun: Night of the Long Knives – the SS kill and he did not assume complete control until 1938.
SA leaders and other opponents of Hitler • There appeared to be little opposition to Nazi rule but, beneath
Aug: Hindenburg dies and Hitler becomes the surface, political, ideological and religious hostility remained
head of state – Führer and Reich and an element of dissension continued in some groups of
young people.
chancellor; army swears a personal oath
• Despite the consolidation of power, Hitler’s actual style of rule
of loyalty to Hitler
suggests that his position at the top of the party and state
1938 Feb: army is reorganised to increase hierarchy was not as authoritarian as it might seem in theory.
Hitler’s control Some historians have described him as a ‘weak’ rather than a
‘strong’ dictator.
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

81

Hitler is welcomed by supporters at Nuremberg, 1933

How did Hitler consolidate his position and

create a one-party state between March and
July 1933?
Between March and July 1933, all other political parties were forced to disband.
The KPD (German Communist Party) had been banned under the presidential
decree of February, after the Reichstag Fire, shortly after Hitler became
chancellor. Many less extreme socialists had also been imprisoned, although
the SPD was not officially banned until 22 June. Similarly, the DNVP (the right-
wing nationlist party) lost its role once it became part of the Nazi coalition,
and disbanded itself. On 5 July the Catholic Centre Party followed as part of the
Concordat with the Pope, which was signed later that month (see page 107). The
culmination of this activity was the Law Against the Establishment of Parties of
14 July 1933. This made it a criminal offence to organise any party outside the
NSDAP. Consequently, although there was an election in November 1933, only
Länder This is the name for the
the Nazis were able to stand and so took all the Reichstag seats.
separate states within Germany. These
had power over local domestic policy
Hitler’s one-party state was a centralised state. In the localities, the Nazis had
at the time of the Weimar Republic,
begun to infiltrate state (Länder) governments from early in 1933, seizing public
buildings and newspaper offices, and from March many state governments which had a federal structure.
had been forced to resign since they had proved unable to control SA violence.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

The Nazi government had already appointed many loyal commissioners to the
states before a law passed in January 1934 formalised the situation. The old
provincial assemblies of the Länder of Germany were abolished and all areas
placed under the control of Nazi governors (Reichstatthalter) and subordinated to
the Reich government in Berlin. These Nazi governors often also had positions
as local Nazi Gauleiters (the party representatives in the area).

By the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of April 1933,
non-Aryans were forced to retire and Jews and other opponents described
as ‘alien elements’ were purged from positions in the administration, courts,
schools and universities. However, it was not until 1939 that membership of
Heinrich Himmler (1900–45) the Nazi Party became compulsory, and in the interests of efficient government
Himmler became the head of the there was a remarkable continuity of personnel.
Schützstaffel (SS) in 1929 and head
of all German political police outside The left-wing socialist trade unions were dissolved in May 1933 and the German
Prussia in 1933. He helped organise Labour Front (DAF) under Robert Ley was set up to replace them. Membership
the Night of the Long Knives and was compulsory and employees could no longer negotiate over wages and
in 1936 took over the Gestapo (the conditions with employers. New academies, or ‘fronts’, also controlled the
secret police). In December 1940, he professions and teachers were, for example, required to join the National
established the Waffen SS. During the Socialist Teachers’ League (NSLB), while in November 1933 university lecturers
war, the SS Death’s Head Units were were required to sign a declaration in support of Hitler and join the Nazi
put in charge of the concentration Lecturers’ Association.
camps. In June 1944, Himmler
took over the Abwehr (the military Hitler’s one-party state was legally established by ‘the Law to Ensure the Unity
of Party and State’ (December 1933). However, the situation was not as simple
intelligence organisation) but his
as it sounds. Hitler allowed parallel institutions to develop rather than creating
attempts to seek peace with the allies
82 undiluted party rule, so there was competition within the state between
led to his arrest. Himmler committed
different agencies, and sometimes between different branches of the Nazi
suicide at the end of the war.
Party itself. For example, in local government the minister-presidents of each
Land were retained alongside the new Reich governors. Some intentionalist
historians, such as Karl Bracher and Klaus Hildebrand, believe Hitler did this
on purpose so that he could retain ultimate control. Structuralists such as
Martin Broszat and Hans Mommsen believe that this situation was unintentional
and resulted from Hitler’s disinterest and neglect. Furthermore, although by
the end of July 1933 most major interest groups had been brought under Nazi
control and a one-party state had been created, Hitler was not secure until
he had dealt with the radical wing of the SA, while the army had also largely
survived Hitler’s early measures unscathed.

Night of the Long Knives

Hitler had been content to use the paramilitary SA to destroy the communist
movement when seeking power. However, he was concerned about the SA’s
violent and sometimes uncontrollable behaviour and about the demands of
its leader, Ernst Röhm, who had ambitions to place himself at the head of a
merged SA and army. Röhm openly condemned Hitler’s compliance with the
élite in 1933 and called for a second revolution to complete the ‘Nazi uprising’.
Fact
Some members of the SA favoured a
Hitler could not afford to upset the army, whose loyalty he needed. Since the
‘second revolution’ that would bring
army was hostile to the SA, he increasingly took the view that the SA had
more socialist change to Germany. served its purpose and was expendable. When Heinrich Himmler and Hermann
They wanted to implement the Goering (see page 86) spread rumours of a planned coup by the SA, Hitler
25-point programme, but Hitler could decided that it was time to take action.
not afford to alienate big business and
the élite on whom he depended. According to official pronouncement, Röhm and 85 others were killed in
the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934 in order to forestall a revolt. In
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

reality, the figure may have been nearer 200 and the reasons were far more
complex. Not all the murders were of SA men. The Nazi Gregor Strasser (who Paul von Hindenburg (1847–
had attempted to split the party in 1932) was shot, as was Kurt von Schleicher, 1934) Paul von Hindenburg was
the former chancellor. Von Papen was put under house arrest and was lucky to commander-in-chief of Germany’s
escape with his life. forces on the Eastern Front from 1914.
He retired from public life in 1918, but
The Night of the Long Knives helped to confirm Hitler’s authority. He justified returned in 1925 to stand as president.
his actions to the Reichstag, two weeks after the event, by saying that he alone He held this post until his death but
had acted on behalf of the German people at a time of emergency and he thus grew increasingly senile and may not
gained credit for a ‘heroic’ action. The Reichstag confirmed that Hitler’s powers have appreciated the consequences of
had no constitutional bounds and that his authority was derived from the his decisions in 1930–33 to allow the
will of the people and could not be challenged. In condoning his action, the use of article 48, which undermined
Reichstag effectively made murder acceptable. parliamentary democracy and allowed
Hitler to come to power.
The purge also had other important consequences. Goebbels was able to portray
Hitler as a man who had personally saved the country, and this helped in the
growing cult of the Führer. The purge also left the way open for Himmler’s SS
to assume dominance in Germany, while Hitler gained the support of the army
commanders. When Hindenburg died in August, all members of the armed
forces swore a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler. Henceforward, Hitler combined
the chancellorship and presidency.

What part did propaganda and repression play

in Hitler’s consolidation of power?
The use of propaganda 83
One of Hitler’s first tasks as chancellor, in March 1933, was to set up a new
Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda under the control of
Goebbels. Hitler believed that the masses, for whom he had little respect, could
easily be won over through regular exposure to propaganda in schools, towns
and the workplace, and in their leisure pursuits. Consequently, the ministry
Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897–
established separate chambers to oversee the work of the press, radio, theatre,
1945) Goebbels joined the Nazi
music, the creative arts and film.
movement in 1924 and became director
of Nazi propaganda in 1929. In 1933,
The ministry controlled the press through censorship and by allowing the Nazi
he became minister for enlightenment
publishing house, Eher Verlag, to buy up private newspapers until by 1939 it
and propaganda. He committed suicide
controlled two-thirds of the press. A German news agency regulated the supply
of news and Goebbels held a daily press conference with editors to ensure the shortly before Hitler, in Hitler’s bunker
right messages arrived in print. Editors were held responsible for their papers in Berlin in 1945.
and were liable for prosecution if they published unapproved material.

The Nazis made extensive use of the radio as a medium for reinforcing Nazi
rule, with the Reich Broadcasting Corporation, set up in 1933, controlling all
that was broadcast. Workplaces, shops, cafés and blocks of flats were expected
to relay important speeches through loudspeakers for all to hear, while in the
home, the Volksempfänger (people’s receiver) became a standard item. These
radio sets had a limited range, preventing individuals from listening to foreign
broadcasts, and they were deliberately sold cheaply. Consequently, ownership
of sets increased from under 25% of households in 1932 to over 70% by 1939 and
the population could be subject to daily exposure to Nazi views.

Stamps carried Nazi slogans and posters bearing Nazi quotations were put up
in offices and public buildings. Furthermore, the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute became the
official form of greeting and helped reinforce enthusiasm for the leader.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Fact
The ‘cult of Hitler’ was almost like
an alternative religious cult, giving
Germans something to believe in.
Nazi propaganda portrayed Hitler
as all-powerful and all-knowing.
The media carried details of what he
wore, said and did, and posters and
books of photographs were sold. He
was depicted as a father figure, a
84 friend of children and a leader who
really cared about his people. He was
also portrayed as a strong man and
a powerful statesman. Anything that
showed a human ‘failing’, such as
wearing glasses, was carefully erased.

A Nazi poster from c. 1935 depicting Adolf Hitler bearing the German flag at the head
of a vast army, with the caption ‘Es Lebe Deutschland!’ (‘Long Live Germany!’)

The cinema was another propaganda tool, although the Nazis used film less
effectively than the radio. Nevertheless, all films were censored and ‘degenerate’
artists forbidden. Light-hearted entertainment – even romances, thrillers and
musicals – had to conform to Nazi ideological principles.
Activity
It was hard to avoid the propagandist messages in Nazi Germany. Even culture
Find out about some Nazi films and
became a form of propaganda, with concert halls bedecked in swastikas (see
the messages they tried to convey. Unit 4). There were constant meetings, rallies, festivals, such as that established
You could start with films such as to celebrate Hitler’s birthday and the anniversary of his appointment as
Hitlerjunge Quex (1933) about the chancellor, and sporting events that provided opportunities to extol Nazism.
Hitler Youth, Triumph des Willens
(Triumph of Will) (1934) about the Of course, it is not easy to evaluate the success of propaganda, since the
Nuremberg Rally, Der Ewige Jude German people were also subject to a number of other influences, most notably
(The Eternal Jew) (1940), Jud Süss repression. However, the very ubiquity of propaganda must have played some
(1940) reinforcing anti-Semitism, role in strengthening the regime. Propaganda was, according to the historian
and Ich Klage An (1941) (I Accuse) David Welch, more successful in reinforcing than in countering existing
about euthanasia. attitudes. Insofar as it was able to do that, however, it must take some credit
for the ease with which Hitler was able to consolidate his rule.
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

The use of repression

SS (Schützstaffel) The
The consolidation of Nazi rule also involved considerable infringement of SS – and its subsection the SD
personal liberty. Repression took various forms, ranging from comparatively mild (Sicherheitsdienst), the security
censorship and intimidation through warnings and job dismissal to arbitrary service – was a highly trained and
arrest, imprisonment, a period in a concentration camp or even execution. élitist Aryan organisation with
Under Hindenburg’s decree of February 1933 (see page 71), 300,000 communists
extensive powers as a military force
were rounded up and 30,000 executed. The decree allowed imprisonment
and as political police. The SS ran
without trial for an indefinite period for anyone deemed dangerous to the
the concentration camps, beginning
state. In March 1933, there was a further decree against malicious gossip and,
with Dachau in March 1933. They
thereafter, any critical comment or unauthorised action could lead to arrest.
joined with the Gestapo (see below)
in 1934 and in 1936 Himmler became
The police were centralised under Himmler as Chief of Police from 1936. Himmler
was also Reichsführer SS and head of the Gestapo, the main security agent of Reichsführer SS. By 1939, the SS
the state. There was also the SD (Sicherheitsdienst), or security police, headed by Death’s Head Units guarded the
Reinhard Heydrich and in 1939 the Reich Main Security Department was set up concentration camps and SS men
to oversee all this security apparatus. The individual was made well aware of ran racial superiority and genetic
the consequences of non-conformity, be it political, racial or moral. The state programmes, controlled labour
employed a stream of informants, including the dreaded ‘block wardens’, who supplies and factories and by 1940
paid regular visits to individuals’ homes, creating an image of power that must had their own fighting units, the
have helped to reinforce obedience. Waffen SS, to rival the regular army.

Even when those arrested were given a trial, the law courts were no longer
impartial. Under the 1933 Civil Service Law, judges whose political beliefs
conflicted with Nazism lost their positions. Lawyers had to be members of Gestapo (Geheime
the Nazi Lawyers Association and were required to study Nazi ideology, so Staatspolizei) The Gestapo
although the law itself did not always change, it was interpreted differently was the state secret police force, 85
by Nazi lawyers. This was summed up by Ernst Hüber, who was at the time a established by Goering in April 1933.
prominent constitutional law professor at the University of Kiel. He defined It served to root out and intimidate
the Nazi concept of law, stating that the individual can be judged by the law potential opposition. However, the
only from the point of view of the individual’s value for the völkisch (people’s)
number of Gestapo officers was limited
community. The law was re-interpreted according to the will of the Führer and
and many were engaged in routine
the ‘best interests’ of the German community.
bureaucratic work, so the regime had
to rely on spies and informers. This
Although the concentration camps were not extermination camps in the years
has led to the conclusion that the
before 1939, they could be brutal places in which prisoners were forced to
survival of the Nazi regime rested
work for long hours on meagre rations. Between 1933 and 1939, around 225,000
Germans were convicted of political crimes and a further 162,000 were placed on the compliance of the public,
in ‘protective custody’ in prison without trial. who were prepared to betray their
colleagues and neighbours, rather
than on an atmosphere of terror. For
Why did it take until 1938 for Hitler’s power to example, Robert Gellately put forward
be fully consolidated? the theory that surveillance was
dependent on the reports provided
Even after the Night of the Long Knives and the army’s oath of loyalty in August by ordinary German people rather than
1934, Hitler knew that the army was the one institution that still retained the a ubiquitous force of the Gestapo.
power to prevent his ambitions from being realised. Hitler was therefore careful
not to cause trouble, and left the army structurally unchanged until 1938.
However, every attempt was made to Nazify the institution through the adoption
of the swastika insignia, Nazi training schemes and indoctrination. Hitler referred
Discussion point
to the army as the ‘second pillar of the state’, working alongside the Nazi Party Do you consider propaganda
and, since most officers shared Hitler’s nationalist aspirations, the relationship or repression more important
was reasonably successful. The army favoured the Nazis’ enforcement of law in the consolidation of power in
and order, and Hitler’s repudiation of the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of a totalitarian state such as
Versailles in March 1935, restoration of conscription and promise to expand the Hitler’s? Why?
peacetime army to more than 500,000 men also met with favour.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Hermann Goering (1893–

1946) Goering joined the Nazi
Party in 1923 and after 1933 became
minister of the interior and prime
minister of Prussia, taking control of
the Gestapo. He helped establish the
86 concentration camps, arranged (with
Himmler) the Night of the Long Knives
and ran the 1936 Four-Year Plan. He
was also behind the purge of Werner
von Blomberg and Werner von Fritsch
in 1938. In February 1938, he became
head of Germany’s armed forces and in
1939 Hitler’s deputy and heir. He was Adolf Hitler giving a Nazi salute to a crowd of soldiers at a Nazi rally, 1 May 1938
in charge of the Luftwaffe (air force)
during the war and found guilty at However, there was some friction, which grew in proportion to Hitler’s military
the Nuremberg Trials of German war ambitions. Some generals condemned the pace of rearmament, and the
criminals in 1945–46. He committed commander-in-chief, Werner von Fritsch, complained that Hitler was ‘rushing
suicide before he could be hanged. everything far too much and destroying every healthy development’. There was
also concern about the role of the SS, which Hitler had always claimed to be a
domestic police force, but which expanded markedly after the destruction of the
SA. The SS-Verfügungstruppe (eventually known as the Waffen SS) was established
to be ‘part of the wartime army’ in August 1938. This caused considerable unease
among the professional army leadership. The SS-Totenkopf (Death’s Head) units
were also expanded as a reserve military force and, according to the historian
Bernd Wegner, ‘It was no longer a question of whether the SS units would be
allowed to share in military conquests in the years to come; the disputes now
concerned only their assignment, size and organisation.’

Another argument concerned Hitler’s expansionist policies themselves. The

army favoured the reversal of the Treaty of Versailles and limited conquest
to restore the old empire. However, it was strongly against the idea of war
with Russia, the traditional ally of the Prussian Junkers (the landed nobility
of Prussia, who dominated the officer class of the German army), and did not
support Hitler’s policies of Lebensraum. Top army generals were critical when, at
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

the Hossbach Conference of 5 November 1937, Hitler laid down aggressive plans
for rapid expansion in the east. The plans were summarised in the ‘Hossbach
memorandum’. Only Goering spoke in Hitler’s favour; von Fritsch and Hitler’s
war minister, General Werner von Blomberg, opposed the plans.

Consequently, in 1938 Hitler contrived to dismiss the war minister General

von Blomberg, alleging that the woman he had just married in January had Fact
been a prostitute. Commander-in-Chief von Fritsch was also dismissed, on the In the 1930s, the term ‘homosexual’
grounds of alleged homosexuality (which was later disproved, although he was was commonly used to describe a
never reinstated). sexual relationship between people
of the same sex, which was then
With the departure of von Blomberg and von Fritsch, Hitler became his own war illegal. Nowadays, following changes
minister, so combining his position as supreme commander (the president’s in attitudes and the law, the term is
role) with an additional political role. To reinforce his intentions, he changed
regarded by many as offensive and
the name of the War Ministry into the ‘High Command of the Armed Forces’
the terms gay, lesbian and bisexual
(the OKW) and Wilhelm Keitel was appointed as its chief. In practice, Keitel was
are widely used and regarded as
little more than an office manager and worked under Hitler’s direct control.
more acceptable.
These changes were accompanied by a drastic reshuffle of those who had failed
to support Hitler’s ideas. Sixteen generals left the army and 44 were transferred.
Although many aristocratic officers still remained suspicious of Hitler, this
effectively brought Hitler’s consolidation of power to a close.

Hitler’s popular triumphs, beginning with the remilitarisation of the Rhineland

in 1936 and embracing Anschluss with Austria and entry into Czechoslovakia in
1938, made him virtually unassailable and the new generation of commanders
such as Heinz Guderian and Erwin Rommel became his faithful followers. 87

Was there any organised opposition to Nazi Historical debate

rule? Tim Mason, a Marxist historian,
has suggested that absenteeism,
There would seem to have been very little opposition to Nazi rule in Germany. strikes and sabotage amongst
This has been explained by the propaganda, repression and general success of workers were common, and Richard
Hitler’s policies both at home and, until 1943, abroad. However, there were acts Overy has indicated that certain
of defiance, of both private and public nature. working-class areas were ‘no-go’
zones for Nazi officials. Kershaw
In private, individuals might read banned literature, listen to foreign news has produced evidence of public
broadcasts, protect Jews and other Nazi victims or even refuse to join Nazi grumbling, while Detler Peukert
organisations or contribute to campaigns. Some, particularly among the has identified extensive resistance
young, listened to American jazz music or even joined the Swing Movement among the young people of Cologne
or Edelweiss Pirates (see page 102), while others simply grumbled or told anti- and Hamburg. Gellately, however,
Nazi jokes. Such ‘opposition’ is difficult to measure and, of course, not all such
has produced evidence to reinforce
behaviour was politically inspired.
the traditional picture that most
ordinary Germans were ready to
There was also more overt public opposition. Some brave socialists, for example,
accept or support the Nazi regime.
continued to distribute anti-Nazi leaflets or write slogans in public places.
Others protested by emigrating and joining the SPD in exile, which operated
from Prague and organised underground groups such as the Berlin Red Patrol
and the Hanover Socialist Front. In November 1939, a socialist cabinet-maker,
Georg Elser, planted a bomb in a beer hall where Hitler was speaking, although
it failed to kill him, since the Führer left the hall early. The KPD also formed Question
underground cells, particularly in Berlin, Mannheim, Hamburg and central If you had lived in Nazi Germany,
Germany, from where they issued leaflets attacking the regime. The Rote Kapelle would you have become involved
(Red Orchestra) was a resistance network that gathered information to send to in opposition?
the Russians, but it was broken up in 1942.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Question Opposition to Hitler might also be seen in the action of judges who refused
to administer ‘Nazi’ justice, and of churchmen, such as Bishop Galen (see
How might a historian measure the page 107) and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who spoke out against Nazi
extent of opposition to Nazism? policies. One centre of opposition was the Kreisau Circle, which met at the
home of Helmut von Moltke. Here, aristocrats, lawyers, SPD politicians such as
Julius Leber, and churchmen such as Bonhoeffer engaged in discussion as to
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906– how to remove Hitler. The group held three meetings in 1942–43 before being
45) Bonhoeffer was an academic broken up by the Gestapo.
theologian who strongly opposed
Nazism. In 1940, he was banned from Opposition also festered within the army. Between June 1940 and July 1944,
preaching and publishing. He joined there were six attempts on Hitler’s life, all led by army officers. Following the
the underground resistance, working last of these, the July Bomb plot of 1944, over 5000 army officers were executed,
with other opponents such as Ludwig including Ludwig Beck, Hans Oster and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Even the
Beck. He was sent to Buchenwald Nazi’s own intelligence agency, the Abwehr, was rife with resistance workers. The
concentration camp in 1943 and head of the agency, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, supported resistance activities
and did what he could to protect Jews.
executed in 1945.

The universities, most notably Munich University, were another centre of

organised resistance in wartime. At Munich University, Hans Scholl formed the
Fact White Rose group in 1941. Members distributed pamphlets and revealed the
General Ludwig Beck opposed Hitler’s truth about the Nazi treatment of Jews and Slavs. In 1943, they became even
expansionist plans in 1938 and, more daring and painted anti-Nazi slogans on public buildings. However, the
following his dismissal, attempted to members were caught, and Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie and other members of
overthrow Hitler in a series of plots the movement were executed. Such activities and the alternative youth culture
that flourished in a number of parts of Germany showed that not all young
involving other army officers. These
people were readily indoctrinated by the regime.
included two attempts to kill Hitler
88 with a bomb in 1943. There were a
number of army officers involved in Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state and was
other resistance activities, notably
in the Kreisau Circle. Claus von Hitler ‘Master of the Third Reich’?
Stauffenberg’s bomb plot of July 1944 By 1938, outward appearances gave the impression of an effective and successful
came very close to killing Hitler. totalitarian regime. At its head was an all-powerful Führer with unlimited power
which filtered down through his Reich cabinet and state governors to keep
everyone in line. In theory, the party and state worked together, but studies of
Activity Nazi rule both at local level and in central government have suggested that the
regime was not as effectively run as was once thought.
Find out more about the resistance
activities of Ludwig Beck, the It is now more common to see the Nazi regime as a confused, polycratic system.
Kreisau Circle and the July Bomb This is because Hitler superimposed the party structure on to the state that he
plotters. What impelled the took over and deliberately generated competition within it. For example, within
participants to resist Hitler? the Chancellery, made up of Hitler’s close friends and followers, he allowed
competences to overlap so that no one was quite sure who was responsible
for what. There was, for example, considerable conflict between the authority
of Goering and Albert Speer (see page 98) over the economy. Similarly, the Civil
Service found some of its work was bypassed by party members (see Unit 4).
polycratic This is a system of
government made up of overlapping According to the historian Broszat, Hitler created a ‘confusing system of
bodies such as ministries, party “empires”’. He believes this accounts for the ‘cumulative radicalism’ that
organisations and special agencies. marked the Nazi regime. Broszat claims that policies grew more extreme
because party leaders were constantly trying to go one stage further to please or
cumulative radicalism This impress Hitler.
is the process whereby policies and
actions become more extreme. This confusion fitted with Hitler’s ideological belief in the survival of the fittest.
Hitler encouraged competition. It provided an opt-out if things went wrong
 3 Establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule

and left him to intervene only when it suited him. Having no clearly organised
pattern to government also appealed to Hitler’s fundamental laziness and lack
of interest in bureaucratic detail.

Although Hitler had plenty of fanaticism and charisma, routine governmental

business failed to interest him. He was not an early riser and preferred to spend
his days reading the newspaper, going for walks, watching feature films and
talking with his cronies. It was well known that Hitler preferred to talk rather
than to listen and that, when he did listen, he only heard what he wanted to
hear – so much so that subordinates often withheld information they feared
might displease him. From 1934, Hitler actually played very little part in the
meetings of the Reich cabinet. From 1937, it ceased to meet altogether.

Hitler spent a considerable amount of time at his mountain retreat, the Berghof
in the Bavarian Alps. Although government papers were conveyed to him for
his signature, wherever he might be, there was no guarantee he would read
them. Very often it was the case that individuals had to fight for access to the
Führer to get approval for actions.

Hitler avoided making decisions as far as possible and, when he did so, often
made them on the spur of the moment, perhaps over lunch or tea without full
reference to all the facts. He had to be caught at the right time and patient Nazi Theory of knowledge
officials had to be prepared to wait for a chance or casual remark which they
could then claim to be the ‘authority’ of the Führer.
Historical interpretation
This state of affairs did not help a regime that depended on Hitler’s decisions to Broszat and Mommsen were the
run smoothly. According to structuralist historians such as Mommsen, Kershaw, first to put forward a ‘structuralist’
89
Jeremy Noakes and Broszat, the Third Reich was not a powerful totalitarian state interpretation of Nazi Germany as a
and Hitler was a ‘weak’ dictator. Although the authority of the Führer was never mixture of competing institutions.
questioned, these historians argue that the formation of policy and decisions These views ran contrary to those of
about its implementation were such a matter of guesswork, as ministers and Bracher (see below).
officials sought to ‘work towards the Führer’, that the regime was chaotic.

Source A
In the 12 years of his rule in Germany, Hitler produced the biggest
confusion in government that has ever existed in a civilised state.
During his period of government he removed from the organisation
of the state all clarity of leadership and produced a completely
opaque network of competencies.

Hitler’s press chief, Otto Dietrich. Quoted in Williamson, D. and Fulbrook,

M. 2008. OCR Democracy and Dictatorship in Germany 1919–1963.
Oxford, UK. Heinemann. p. 19.
Questions
1 How effectively did Hitler
Intentionalist historians, such as Bracher and Hugh Trevor-Roper, suggest that consolidate his power between
the overlapping of interests was deliberate and that Hitler was a powerful March 1933 and August 1934?
integrating figure at the centre of government. According to them, internal 2 Is the phrase a ‘weak dictator’ a
rivalries generated a degree of effectiveness, reinforcing Hitler’s position and contradiction in terms? Explain
power. Hitler was able to take the praise for effective policies and blame others your views.
for ineffective ones – making himself a ‘strong’ dictator.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Did all power stem from Hitler with no individual being allowed to grow too powerful?
Were there deliberately overlapping ‘empires’ with final decision-making dependent on access to Hitler?

Lack of opposition from 1934:

• no unions Control of a powerful
• control over the media security system:
• one-party state • police
• control over courts • Gestapo
• control over Civil Service • SS
• bargains with army, church
and big business and Hug
er
B rach hT
rev
Absolute control over:
Karl or
• ideology of -R A far-reaching propaganda
w STRONG DICTATOR

op
• education e machine:
Vi

er
• the economy • press
What kind of ruler
• the army • radio
• all forms of art and culture

zat
View o

Bros
Nazi programmes were
fH

was Hitler? left unfinished:

in
a rt
an

Hitler’s personality: • plans for economic recovery

M
sM

• lazy m WEAK DICTATOR not carried through fully

nd
a
o

m s
• erratic se ke • suggested Germany might
90 n , Ia oa
• easily bored and nK N be ready for war in 1942–43,
ershaw, Jeremy
uninterested in detail in the 1937 Hossbach
(especially economics) Opted out of government: memorandum
• set ministers against one • rearmament narrowly based
another with overlapping duties and no war economy
• allowed ministers/Gauleiters and mayors to give until 1942
different decisions and compete for influence
• permanent confusion over planning, especially in war years

Was there a confusion of private ‘empires’ and was Hitler’s power ‘negative’ – destroying without replacing?

Discussion points
End of unit activities
1 Why did Hitler rely primarily on the
law to help consolidate his power? 1 Draw a flow chart to show the stages by which Hitler consolidated his rule.
2 Why is Hitler’s state regarded as 2 Write an obituary for Röhm (who died on the Night of the Long Knives). You
right-wing? With reference to could decide whether your obituary is for a pro-Nazi German newspaper or
Chapters 1 and 2, is there really any a more neutral British one.
difference between right-wing and 3 Imagine you are interviewing Hitler for a TV news programme at the end
left-wing states? Are these helpful of 1934. Produce ten questions and (after swapping scripts with another
terms? member of your group) fill in the replies that Hitler might have given.
4 Find one piece of visual propaganda and one piece of contemporary written
evidence illustrating the ‘cult of Hitler’. Explain your findings to your group.
Theory of knowledge
5 Make a chart on which you can record the arguments that Hitler was a strong
dictator and those that suggest he was a weak dictator. Try to add historians’
History and ethics names to the arguments and where possible find quotations from their
What is a dictatorship? Is dictatorship books to support what you write.
always wrong? Is it possible to create
a benign dictatorship?
4 Domestic policies and their impact

Timeline
Key questions 1933 Apr: one-day boycott of Jewish shops
• What factors influenced Nazi economic policy? and businesses; Civil Service Law
• How successful were the Nazis in bringing about economic
May: public burning of ‘un-German’ books;
recovery in the years 1933–39?
Law for the Protection of Retail Trade
• How ready was Germany for war in 1939?
• How effectively did Speer manage the wartime German economy? Jul: Concordat with Catholic Church
• What was the position of women in the Nazi state? Sep: the German Chamber of Culture,
• How did the Nazis try to ensure the support of youth? Reich Food Estate and Reich Economic
• How extensive was the persecution of minorities within the Nazi Chamber are created; Reich Entailed
state? Farm Law
• What was the relationship between the Nazis and the Churches
within Germany? 1934 Aug: Schacht becomes minister of
• How did Nazism affect the arts and cultural life? economics
Sep: New Plan comes into effect

Overview 1935 Sep: Nuremberg Laws – Jews are deprived

91
of rights
• Nazi economic policy was incoherent and, despite having an
1936 Apr: Lebensborn (Spring of Life)
ideological basis, was moulded by circumstances.
• Hjalmar Schacht helped the German economic recovery from 1933
programme is launched
but clashed with Hitler over rearmament and was dismissed. Oct: Four-Year Plan is drawn up with
• From 1936, Hermann Goering led the Four-Year Plan, aiming at Goering in charge
self-sufficiency (autarky) but never fully succeeded.
• Germany was not ready for war in 1939 and the economy was Dec: membership of Hitler Youth becomes
near collapse in 1942, when Speer took command of reorganising compulsory
the labour supply and the distribution of raw materials.
1937 Mar: Pope issues Mit Brennender Sorge
• The economy collapsed entirely in 1945 in the wake of Allied
(With Burning Anxiety) criticising
bombing.
• Nazi policy towards women was conservative, aiming to keep
racism
women ‘in the home’, but was inconsistent since women were Nov: Schacht resigns as minister of
encouraged back into the workplace in the war years. economics and is replaced by Goering
• Young people were the focus of intense indoctrination through
the Hitler Youth and the education system. 1938 Nov: Reichskristallnacht (Night of the
• There was an attempt to control the Churches through the Broken Glass) – anti-Jewish pogrom
Catholic Concordat and a separate Reich Protestant Church.
1939 Aug: euthanasia programme is launched
However, neither was ever fully brought into line and attempts
to spread an alternative pagan faith met with limited success. 1941 Aug: Bishop Galen protests against
• Minorities were persecuted for their political, social and racial euthanasia
non-conformity, with policies becoming ever more radical as the
regime grew more secure. Attempts to create a ‘Jew-free’ society Dec: gassing of Jews in mobile vans in
ultimately led to the Holocaust and the deaths of 6 million Jews. Chelmo begins
• The experimental, modernist Weimar culture was rejected in 1942 Jan: Wannsee Conference to co-ordinate
favour of a controlled and conservative approach to the arts, ‘final solution’ of Jewish question; Speer
which demanded that the arts should glorify Nazi values.
takes control of the economy
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

92

A Hitler Youth group, 1939

What factors influenced Nazi economic policy?

Despite promises to make Germany prosperous again, Hitler had no clear
economic programme when he became chancellor in 1933. In the 25-point
programme of 1920 (see Unit 2), the Nazis had claimed to want to respond to
the needs of small farmers (29% of the working population) and smaller urban
traders. However, as with much of what Hitler said in his quest for power, he
displayed little depth of commitment once he reached the top. Indeed, as the
likelihood of power had grown nearer, he had increasingly looked to reassure
big business, which could fund his campaigns and make his dreams a reality.

There was some token acknowledgement of the ‘socialist’ aspects of National

Socialism in the policies of early 1933. All peasant debts – a total of 12 billion
Reich Food Estate This was an Reichsmarks – were suspended between March and October 1933 and high
organisation that controlled food
tariffs put on many imported foodstuffs. The setting up of the Reich Food Estate
production and sales, setting targets, under Richard Darré, the minister of food and agriculture, gave peasant farmers
quotas and prices. guaranteed prices for their produce. The Reich Entailed Farm Law (September
1933) provided small farmers with security of tenure by forbidding the sale,
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

confiscation, division or mortgaging of any farm between 7.5 and 10 hectares

(18.5 and 25 acres) that was owned by Aryan farmers. Similarly, there was a
gesture towards helping urban traders in the Law for the Protection of Retail
Trade (May 1933). Among other measures, the law forbade the setting up of new
department stores.

Although such measures fulfilled one aspect of the Nazis’ professed concerns,
they always took second place to the Nazis’ predominant desire, which was
to strengthen Germany to fight a future war. It was the ‘national’ aspect of
the party’s name that was the real driving force behind Nazi economic policy.
This produced the concept of Wehrwirtschaft – a defence economy that would
provide for Germany’s needs in a future war.

cartel A cartel is an agreement

Source A between companies to work together
to reduce production costs and
In February 1933, a week after coming to power, Hitler announced: improve efficiency.

For the next four to five years the main principle must be everything
for the armed forces. Germany’s position in the world depends
decisively upon the position of the German armed forces. The Fact
position of the German economy in the world is also dependent Krupp factories supported Hitler
on that. with weapons and armaments while
I. G. Farben built chemical plants.
Noakes, J. and Pridham, G. (eds). 2000. Nazism 1919–45: Vol. 2, State, During the war, Krupp ran factories 93
Economy and Society 1933–39: A Documentary Reader. Exeter, UK. using slave labour in occupied
University of Exeter Press. p. 263. countries and in 1943 Alfred Krupp
was made minister of the war
economy. I. G. Farben built a plant
This principle became even more important after 1936, and necessitated a producing synthetic oil and rubber
‘managed economy’, whereby the state regulated economic life. Wehrwirtschaft at Auschwitz, where 83,000 slave
included the pursuit of self-sufficiency, or autarky, which drove out ‘socialist’ labourers worked. I. G. Farben also
ideas by demanding the development of modern large-scale farms. It also held the patent for the Zyklon B gas,
encompassed the acceleration of rearmament, which required the support which was used in the gas chambers.
of big business. Hence, between July 1933 and December 1936, over 1600 new At the Nuremberg Trials, Krupp was
cartel arrangements were put in place. sentenced to 12 years in prison and
13 directors of I. G. Farben were
The historian Richard Grunberger has estimated that, while only 40% of German sentenced to one to eight years.
production was in the hands of such monopolies in 1933, it was 70% by 1937.
Many industrialists and companies became closely associated with the regime
– for example, Krupp, the arms and steel manufacturer, and I. G. Farben, which
produced chemicals. guns and butter This phrase
had been used by historians writing
However, as Hitler said to building workers in May 1937, ‘the decisive factor about the Nazis’ preparations for war.
is not the theory but the performance of the economy’. Bracher has echoed The Nazis could not invest heavily in
this point, arguing that ‘at no time did National Socialism develop a consistent rearmament (guns) while maintaining
economic or social theory’. Ideological ideas could be contradictory and there standards of living (butter). There
was a conflict between the continuance of private ownership and increased was also literally a shortage of fats
state direction. in Germany – both for consumption
(butter, margarine and lard) and for
Furthermore, the practical need to provide the German people with a reasonable
industrial purposes (grease).
standard of living was difficult to reconcile with a commitment to rearmament.
Hitler never fully resolved this conflict between ‘guns and butter’.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Hjalmar Schacht (1877–1970)

How successful were the Nazis in bringing
Although not a Nazi Party member, about economic recovery in the years 1933–39?
Schacht helped raise funds for the
Unemployment had peaked at 6 million (a sixth of the working population) in
party in the 1930s. In August 1934,
July 1932 and, when Hitler became chancellor in 1933, Germany’s exports were
he was made minister of economics.
just 39% of the 1928 level. Reducing unemployment, stimulating the economy
However, he protested against extreme
and addressing the balance of payments problem, which resulted from the
anti-Semitism and opposed Hitler’s
collapse of the export market, were issues the Nazis had to address if they
demand for increasing expenditure on were to retain credibility and support. To help with this, in March 1933, Hitler
rearmament. He resigned as minister appointed Dr Hjalmar Schacht as president of the Reichsbank. Schacht was a
of economics in November 1937 and as non-Nazi who was well respected by the business community.
president of the Reichsbank in January
1939. In 1944, he was charged with In June 1933, a law to reduce unemployment was passed. This included:
being involved in the July Bomb Plot.
• government spending on public works schemes – Arbeitsdienst
At the Nuremberg Trials, he was found
• subsidies for private construction/renovation
not guilty of war crimes.
• income tax rebates/loans to encourage industrial activity.

Other measures that helped to combat unemployment included:

• emergency relief schemes
Fact • recruitment into the Reich Labour Service (RAD) formed in 1934 – through
Each rank-and-file RAD member was which the unemployed were sent to work on various civil, military and
assigned to a work ‘battalion’ in one agricultural projects
of 40 districts and was supplied with • a law for the construction of 7000 km (4350 miles) of motorway – the
a spade and a bicycle. Autobahnen
• specific regulations – for example, that no machinery could be used for road-
94 building when surplus labour was available
• an expansion of the party and national bureaucracy
• discouragement of female labour (see pages 99–101), including marriage
allowances to remove women from the labour market
• in March 1935, conscription and an increase in rearmament.

In order to stimulate the economy, tax concessions were offered to businesses,

deficit financing This term and Schacht also raised money for investment through ‘mefo bills’. These were
refers to the practice of spending credit notes, issued by the Reichsbank and guaranteed by the government. The
more government money than is bills were a means of ‘deficit financing’. They were paid back with interest after
received. The difference is made up five years from the increased government tax revenue they helped to generate.
by borrowing. Repayments on mefo bills accounted for 50% of government expenditure in
1934–35.

Mefo bills permitted subsidies and agreements, such as that to match private
investment in the car industry. This helped to stimulate housing, road
construction and a variety of industries. Among these was the rearmament
industry, although it was not the main growth area before 1936.

Schacht also took action to erode Germany’s debt and improve the balance
of payments position. In 1933 controls were introduced to limit the drain of
bond A bond is the contract Germany’s foreign exchange by paying foreign debts in Reichsmarks.
accompanying a loan. The creditor is
promised that they will be paid back In July 1934, debt repayment was stopped altogether and creditors were given
at some point in the future and in the bonds instead. Although creditor countries opposed this move, they failed to
meantime annual interest is paid on co-operate to put pressure on Germany. Consequently, the Nazis were able to
the amount lent. push ahead with the New Plan of September 1934, devised by Schacht, who was
promoted to minister of economics that year. The New Plan supported:
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

• increased government regulation of imports

• the development of trade with less developed countries Fact
• the development of German trade with central and southeast Europe. Following the Austrian Anschluss
with Germany in 1938 (see page 65),
The New Plan led to a series of trade agreements, particularly with the Balkan Austrian Jews were forced to declare
and South American states, which provided for the import of vital raw materials. their land, personal possessions,
Since these were paid for in Reichsmarks, they encouraged such countries to bank and savings accounts, securities,
buy German goods in return. According to William Shirer, ‘Schacht’s creation of insurance policies and pension
credit, in a country that had little liquid capital and almost no financial reserves, payments. These assets, totalling
was the work of a genius.’
over $800 million, were gradually
expropriated as Jews were deprived
Other influences that helped the revival of the economy included the avoidance
of their possessions and given jobs
of labour troubles with the dissolution of the trade unions, the banning of
as forced labourers or removed to
strikes and the creation of the DAF in May 1933, and the Nazis’ continued use
the Austrian concentration camp
of propaganda to increase the illusion of success and prosperity and maintain
Mauthausen. By February 1939,
confidence. There were also other ‘windfalls’, such as the seizure of Jewish
property and Austrian assets, following the Anschluss of 1938. 77.6% of Austrian Jewish shops and
businesses had been seized.
Did the Nazis perform an ‘economic miracle’?
Unemployment fell from 6 million to 2.5 million within 18 months of Hitler’s
coming to power. By 1936 it stood at 1.6 million and, with subsequent expansion, Fact
by 1939 it had fallen below 200,000. Economic investment increased and public Between 1932 and 1939
expenditure reached 23.6 billion Reichsmarks in 1939 – a considerable advance unemployment in Germany fell from
on 17.1 billion Reichsmarks in 1932 and 18.4 billion in 1933. around 6 million to less than 200,000.
However, around 4 million had been
absorbed into the Wehrmacht (armed
95
forces). This meant that, in reality,
only about 2 million extra jobs had
Source B been created over six years. These
were mostly in the manufacture of
armaments, which was necessary
What we have achieved in two and a half years in the way of a to equip the 4 million members of
planned provision of labour, a planned regulation of the market, a the Wehrmacht.
planned control of prices and wages, was considered a few years ago
to be absolutely impossible. We only succeeded because behind these
apparently dead economic measures we had the living energies of
the whole nation.

From a speech by Hitler to the Reichstag, 1935. Quoted in Hite, J. and Hinton,
C. 2000. Weimar and Nazi Germany. London, UK. John Murray. p. 217

However, despite Hitler’s talk of a new ‘determination’, the economic situation

when he took office was not as bad as he liked to suggest. Thanks to Brüning,
reparations had ended and unemployment had begun to fall after July 1932.
Work creation schemes had been established and the world economic recovery
from late 1932 had laid the basis for the so-called ‘Nazi economic miracle’.
Furthermore, despite considerable economic achievements, the Nazis’ economic
policies were not a total success. Reserves of foreign currency remained low
and the balance of payments continued to be in deficit – and grew worse after
1936, when Schacht’s influence declined. Rearmament put a strain on the
economy and, although real wages increased overall, the price of food rose to
the detriment of the poorer peasants and urban workers.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

96

Inside the Krupp factory in Essen, 1933

Historians who question the strong dictator theory (e.g. Kershaw and Overy)
would argue that there was no coherent Nazi economic policy, so it is wrong to
ascribe the term ‘Nazi economic miracle’ to what happened after 1933. Despite
Nazi claims, most economic policies were not carefully thought through and
evolved according to political whims.

How ready was Germany for war in 1939?

By 1936, Hitler had grown impatient with Schacht’s commitment to financial
orthodoxy. This commitment made Schacht anxious to curb public expenditure,
encourage more exports and slow down the pace of rearmament as it was
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

straining the balance of payments. Consequently, in August 1936, the Four-Year

Plan was announced, with Hermann Goering as its director. Fact
The Four-Year Plan was designed
• Emphasis was to be placed on self-sufficiency, or autarky; plants were to be
to gear the economy in support of
built for the production of ersatz (substitute) synthetic materials, such as
the Nazis’ political objectives, but
artificial rubber (known as Buna), which could be made from acetylene.
its actual significance has provoked
• Special encouragement was to be given to the chemical industry and the
debate. According to Overy, ‘It was the
development of synthetic fuel (such as using coal to produce oil).
foundation of preparation for total
• Steelworks were to be developed, using the lower grade ores that were
available within Germany (the Hermann Goering steelworks was erected in
war.’ E. H. Carr has claimed, ‘It was not
compliance with this). an attempt to switch from rearmament
• Emphasis was to be placed on the production of heavy machinery. in breadth to rearmament in depth.’
• The office of the Four-Year Plan was to issue regulations controlling foreign Nevertheless, the memorandum
exchange, labour, raw materials distribution and prices. that launched the plan asserted that
• Targets for private industry were to be established through six sub-offices ‘the German armed forces must be
with special responsibilities for production and distribution. (These were: operational within four years’ and ‘the
raw materials; labour force; agriculture; price control; foreign exchange; German economy must be fit for war
and the Reichswerke Hermann Goering, the steel plant that co-ordinated within four years’, suggesting a more
rearmament.) gradual development.

The Four-Year Plan extended Nazi control by setting up a ‘managed economy’

in co-operation with big business. Private industry continued, but failure
to conform and meet expectations could result in the business being taken
over. The plan had some success and there was a growth in output in all the
key areas. However, overall targets were not met (especially those for synthetic
fuel, rubber, fats and light metals) and the production of synthetic substitutes
proved costly. For example, to produce one tonne of oil, it took six tonnes of 97
coal. By 1939, Germany still imported a third of all its raw materials, including
iron ore, oil and rubber, and there remained a shortage of foreign exchange to
buy necessary imports.

The development of the plan was also impeded by bureaucratic inefficiency

and internal rivalry, while the need to maintain the production of consumer
goods for the German people impeded the priorities of the plan.

Tim Mason, a Marxist historian, has argued that the German economy
had reached a crisis point by 1938 and that this was so serious that it drove
Germany to war. Mason claims that the economy had been put under strain
by rearmament. He argues that the regime, which had consistently favoured
capitalist big business over the workers, was unable to demand the ‘sacrifices’
necessary to pursue its ends, such as wage reductions. Consequently the conflict
between ‘guns and butter’ threatened unrest among the working classes and
led Hitler to divert attention by going to war before he was really ready to do so.
However, according to Overy, the decision to go to war caused, rather than was
caused by, an economic crisis. He argues that the outbreak of war was decided
by the ending of appeasement, not an economic need.

Most historians agree that, whatever the reason, Germany was not fully
prepared for war in 1939. Taylor, for example, has stressed that Hitler was
unable to concentrate on rearmament because he needed to keep up consumer Blitzkrieg This term refers to
production. Burton Klein has put forward the view that Germany was ready for ‘lightning warfare’ – an attack
a short war of Blitzkrieg, but not for total war, which Hitler never intended. In conducted with such speed that the
support of this view, he has pointed to the ‘quite modest’ scale of economic enemy is overwhelmed even before it
mobilisation in 1939 and to the 30% rise in the production of consumer goods can put all its forces into action.
between 1936 and 1939.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Overy has also argued that, although Hitler was undoubtedly preparing for war,
Fact he was not yet ready in 1939. This theory is backed up by Hitler’s speech at
In August 1939, Germany and the the Hossbach Conference in November 1937. In this speech, Hitler argued that
Soviet Union signed a non-aggression Britain and France would not fight for Czech independence and that Poland
pact, under which both nations agreed could be taken without a general war.
not to go to war with each other and
(in a secret clause) to divide Poland The Nazi–Soviet Pact of 1939 (Hitler’s ‘deal’ with Joseph Stalin to divide Poland
between them. Hitler’s invasion of between them) also fits the view that Hitler planned to absorb Poland peacefully
Poland began on 1 September 1939, and use Polish resources for economic build-up before launching into full-
while the Soviet Union’s invasion from scale war, perhaps in 1942. When Hitler’s plans for peaceful expansion failed
the east began on 17 September. in September 1939, Hitler told Goering that he wanted ‘complete conversion of
the economy to wartime requirements’. It is likely that it was at this stage that
target dates had to be brought forward and a new acceleration applied.

Albert Speer (1905–81) Speer,

a young architect, joined the Nazi How effectively did Speer manage the wartime
Party in 1932 and became a member German economy?
of the SS. Hitler commissioned him
to design the Reich Chancellery in When war broke out, the Nazi rearmament programmes were only half
Berlin and Party Palace in Nuremberg. completed. Consequently, the early German victories were more the result of
In 1942, Speer was made minister of their enemies’ weaknesses and their own military tactics, than that of superior
armaments. He raised production but German armaments. However, these victories gave a false sense of confidence.
Resources within Germany were not used efficiently. For example, the army could
clashed with other leaders. At the
call up any worker, regardless of his skills or employment, women remained
Nuremberg Trials, he was sentenced
in the home, and few prisoners of war were set to work. (The proportion of
to 25 years in prison. On his release
prisoners in work had still only reached 40% by 1942.) Furthermore, there was
in 1966, he published his memoirs, in
no central authority to direct labour.
98 which he claimed to be uninterested in
politics and to have known nothing of
Hitler’s failure to defeat Britain at the end of 1940 and the Soviet Union after
the Holocaust. However, Trevor-Roper the invasion of June 1941 created a situation that the German economy had
has described him as ‘the real criminal never been prepared to deal with. Rather than a short war of Blitzkrieg, it
of Nazi Germany’, because he saw had to sustain a long war. To achieve this, Fritz Todt was made minister of
faults and did nothing. armaments and munitions in March 1940. He died in February 1942 and was
replaced by Albert Speer.

Todt laid the foundations for Speer by setting up a series of committees with
Fact
chairmen from industry to rationalise production. However, he had only limited
Todt was killed in an air crash, having
success because of military interference. Erhard Milch (Goering’s deputy at the
just left Hitler’s headquarters. It has
Air Ministry) also organised aircraft production through committees linking
been suggested that Hitler wanted
producers and contractors but suffered the same level of army bureaucracy.
to get rid of him in order to promote
Speer, who was immediately given Speer’s role in enabling Germany to continue the war to 1945 was to be of
Todt’s job. When Goering arrived immense importance. Although he fought constant battles against other Nazi
shortly afterwards, Hitler ordered leaders, such as Goering, Himmler and Martin Bormann, as well as obstructive
him to remain in charge of the Four- local Gauleiters, he managed to turn wartime production round.
Year Plan and air force. This was
probably because Goering was closely In April 1942, Speer persuaded Hitler to establish a Central Planning Board to
associated with the military, while organise the allocation of raw materials and ensure that a larger proportion
Speer was a personal protegé and went into armaments. The Central Planning Board:
seen by Hitler as more pliable. Hitler • set norms for the multiple use of separately manufactured parts to reduce
hoped Speer could bring the party unnecessary duplication
and industry into closer partnership • provided for substitution in raw materials and ensured the development of
through his contacts. new processes
• increased industrial capacity (sometimes by converting existing plant)
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

• placed bans or limits on the manufacture of unnecessary goods

• set schedules and issued output comparisons
• organised the distribution of labour, machinery and power supplies.

Speer worked extremely hard, overseeing everything himself. Hitler remained

unrealistic and never fully understood Germany’s economic position. He was
reluctant to endorse rationing or to cut consumer production, which was kept
at only 3% below peacetime levels in 1942.

In the organisation of labour, Speer had to counter the prejudice of both Hitler
and Fritz Saukel, who was officially responsible for the supply of labour. In
January 1943, it was agreed that German women could be conscripted into the
factories, but the order continued to be frequently ignored.

However, labour supplies were maintained with the use of 7 million foreign
workers (both male and female) transferred to German factories. Although Theory of knowledge
forced labour could be unreliable (particularly when workers were living on
meagre rations), statistics would certainly support Speer’s success in increasing History and economics
wartime production.
Are economic needs the driving force
of History?
In the first six months of Speer’s control, overall armament production rose
50% – guns 27%, tanks 25% and ammunition 97%. Work continued despite
military losses, defeats and allied bombing raids. There was a monthly average
of 111,000 tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany in the second quarter of 1944
– many falling on fuel plants and refineries. Yet, from the production of 3744
aircraft in 1940, factories reached a peak production of 25,285 planes in 1944. By
rebuilding works to protect them from enemy bombing raids, 5000 new planes 99
were still built in the first four months of 1945.

However, not even Speer could overcome Germany’s inherent disadvantages

in the war. In the end, bombing and shrinking resources, as Germany’s
enemies advanced from east and west, caused the economy to crumble in
1945. By 1945, 400,000 civilians had been killed in bombing raids, and towns,
cities and factories lay in ruins. Transport had completely broken down and oil
was unobtainable.
Questions
According to Mommsen’s view of Nazism’s destructive capacity, economic
destruction was the product of Hitler’s personal obsession, as summed up in Did the Nazis perform an economic
his order to Speer in 1945 to destroy transport and factories lest they fall into miracle in Germany in the years 1933–
enemy hands. He claimed, ‘The Germans have failed to prove worthy of their 42? How successful was Nazi economic
Führer. I must die and all Germany must die with me.’ Fortunately, Speer policy? To what extent was Nazi
countermanded the order, but there is no doubt that the Nazi economy had economic policy driven by ideology?
ultimately failed.

What was the position of women in the Nazi

state?
Hitler had very clear views about the position that women should hold in the
Nazi state.

Hitler looked back on female emancipation during the Weimar Republic with
disfavour. According to Nazi propaganda, the duties of women were as mothers,
housewives supporting their husbands, and community organisers.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

According to Nazi ideology, a woman’s primary role was

as a mother, whose duty was to bear further Aryans

To encourage motherhood, birth control centres were

closed, abortion was made illegal unless necessary
for the eradication of ‘genetic defects’, and maternity
benefits were increased. Income tax allowances for
dependent children were raised and large families
enjoyed concessions on expenses such as school
fees and railway fares. In 1935, the Lebensborn (Spring
of Life) project encouraged unmarried women with
good racial credentials to become pregnant, with
selected SS men as the fathers. ‘The Honour Cross
of German Motherhood’ or ‘Mothers’ Cross’ was
established in May 1939 to encourage all women to
‘bear a child for the Führer’.

However, only the genetically pure were allowed to

procreate. From 1935, couples needed a certificate of
‘fitness to marry’ before a marriage licence could be
issued. From 1938, ‘unproductive’ marriages could
be ended. After 1941, couples found cohabiting
after their marriage had been banned were sent
to concentration camps. Mothers who failed in
their duty to support their children’s education as
‘national comrades’, for example attending the
100 Hitler Youth (see page 101), could also face having
their children removed.

To facilitate their role as mothers and alleviate male

unemployment, legislation and propaganda were
used to remove women from the workplace. By the
Law for the Reduction of Unemployment of June 1933, women were encouraged
to leave work on marriage with the support of generous loans.

Source
C
The slogan ‘Emancipation of Women’ was invented by Jewish
Fact
intellectuals. If the man’s world is said to be the state, his struggle,
Marriage loans provided just over half
his readiness to devote his powers to the service of the community,
an average year’s earnings. They had a
then it may perhaps be said that the woman’s is a smaller world. For
low interest rate of 1% per month over
her world is her husband, her family, her children and her home.
eight and a quarter years. They were
reduced by a quarter and repayments
From Hitler’s speech to the National Socialist Women’s League, 8 September
delayed by a year on the birth of each
1934. Quoted in Noakes, J. and Pridham, G. (eds). 1984. Nazism 1919–1945:
healthy child, so after having four
Vol. 2, State, Economy and Society 1933–1939: A Documentary Reader.
children a couple owed nothing. At
Exeter, UK. University of Exeter Press. p. 449.
first, loans were only granted if a wife
gave up her job, but the regulations
changed in 1937. By 1939, 42% of all
In 1934, all married women were forced out of careers in medicine, the legal
marriages were loan assisted.
profession and the Civil Service. They were even declared ineligible for jury
service, supposedly because they could not think logically. Similar beliefs placed
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

politics out of women’s reach. In a striking contrast with the 1920s, women were
banned from senior positions in the Nazi leadership and there were no female Fact
Nazi members of the Reichstag. Education also discriminated against women. During the years of the Weimar
Only 10% of university entrants were female until a shortage of professional Republic, women had been granted
and technical experts in the later 1930s led to a relaxation of policy. the vote and enjoyed greater equality
with men than under the Nazis. They
Similarly, when a labour shortage began to affect rearmament plans in 1936, had been encouraged to pursue higher
some women were once more drawn back into factories. Compulsory agricultural education, to take up professional
labour service was introduced for women under 25 in 1939 and, from January posts and to participate in politics
1943, women aged 16–45 could be conscripted for the war effort. as members of the Reichstag.

Speer later wrote of his struggle to get Hitler to agree to the need for female
mobilisation, but the Nazis got round the apparent contradiction in policies by
arguing that in wartime the whole of Germany had become the ‘home’ where Fact
women were required to serve. Prolific mothers were awarded medals,
with the inscription ‘The child enobles
Nazi policies towards women were therefore contradictory. While they claimed the mother.’ These were given annually
to promote the importance of family values, they encouraged an independent on 12 August, the birthday of Hitler’s
youth that placed the party above the family. While they extolled conventional own mother. The recipients had to
morality and the importance of marriage, they also permitted illegitimate be ‘of German blood and hereditarily
births and easier divorce, and advanced compulsory sterilisation for those with healthy’. There were three categories:
genetic defects. While they told women to stay in the home, from 1936 women • bronze – for those who had four or
were encouraged to return to the factories. While female education was initially five children
discouraged, by the war years women were encouraged to enter universities
• silver – for those who had six or
and train for professional roles.
seven children
• gold – for those who had eight or
How did the Nazis try to ensure the support of more children.
101

youth?
Young people were very important to the Nazis. According to Hans Schemm,
Fact
leader of the Nazi Teachers’ League, ‘those who have youth on their side control
Tests for admission to the Pimpfen
the future’. Consequently, much effort was put into winning over this new
included:
generation through youth movements and the control of education.
• recitation of Nazi dogma and all the
In July 1933, Hitler appointed Baldur von Schirach as ‘youth leader of the verses of the ‘Horst Wessel Song’
German Reich’. By the end of 1933, von Schirach had control over all youth (the Nazi Party anthem)
organisations, except for those Catholic organisations exempted under the • map reading
Concordat (see page 107). • participation in pseudo war games
and charitable collections
Membership of the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend: HJ) became compulsory in 1936 • sporting standards – 60 metres
and in March 1939 the Catholic youth groups were finally closed down. The (66 yards) in 12 seconds; long
Hitler Youth was divided into various sections. jump of 2.75 metres (3 yards)
• participation in a cross-country
march.
Boys Girls

Pimpfen (cubs) 6–10 years Junge Mädel (JM) 10–14 years

Fact
Members of the Hitler Youth took
Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ) 10–14 years Bund Deutscher Mädel 14–18 years an oath and vow to the Führer:
(BDM) You, Father, are our commander!
We stand in your name.
Hitlerjugend (HJ) 14–18 years Glaube und Schönheit 18–21 years The Reich is the object of our struggle,
(League of Faith and It is the beginning and the Amen.
Beauty)
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Nazi youth organisations were governed by two basic aims: to train boys for
Fact war and girls for motherhood. At every level there were uniforms, competitions,
Napolas (national political educational expeditions, sports, musical activities, theatrical productions and artistic
institutions) were set up from April displays to take part in. There was incessant activity and competition, which
1933 and in 1936 fell under the penalised the weak or uncommitted. Values of honour, discipline and self-
influence of the SS. They produced sacrifice were encouraged, with contempt for moderation, intellect and
highly trained youngsters for the sensitivity. Youths were even encouraged to spy on their parents and report
armed forces. Classes were known as aberrant attitudes.
platoons and the routine of the school
was based on that of a military camp Generally, the Hitlerjugend was well received by young people. However, some
with a communal style of living and young people disliked the regimentation and, by the later 1930s, alternative,
sporting drill before breakfast. The illegal youth groups began to attract growing numbers. These included the
Adolf Hitler Schools were strongly working-class Edelweiss Pirates, and the middle/upper-class Swing Movement,
influenced by the Hitler Youth. The ten whose members rejected Nazi values by dancing to American jazz (black) music
and wearing American-style fashions.
Ordensburgen were party-controlled
Nazi colleges, set up from 1937, with
The German education system was also used to inculcate Nazi values and, in May
an emphasis on physical training.
1934, a centralised Reich Education Ministry was established under Bernhard
Rust. No substantial change was made to the structure of the education system,
apart from the establishment of a new series of élite schools including Napolas,
Adolf Hitler Schools and the Ordensburgen (see Fact box, left). However, there
Fact
was a radical revision of the curriculum.
A pupil had to reach the required
standard in sport before he or she
Biology, History and German became the means for conveying Nazi philosophy.
could move to the next class. Sport
In Biology, racial differences and the Nazis’ interpretation of Darwin’s theory
was an examination subject for
of selection and survival of the fittest were emphasised. History was designed
102 grammar school entry (and a child
to ‘awaken in the younger generation that sense of responsibility towards
could be refused entry to secondary
ancestors and grandchildren that will enable it to let its life be subsumed in
school if he or she had a serious eternal Germany’. German lessons encouraged a consciousness of the nation
physical handicap) and for the school- and there was an emphasis on folklore. Ideology even entered the curriculum
leaving examination. Persistently in a lesser way in Maths, where problems were posed in ideological language.
unsatisfactory sporting performance At further education colleges and universities, new subjects such as genetics,
could be the grounds for expulsion. racial theory, folklore, military studies and the study of German borderlands
made an appearance. There was also a huge emphasis on sport, which
occupied a minimum of five hours a week, giving the gymnastics teacher a
new status. This was at the expense of religious education, which ceased to
Theory of knowledge exist as a subject in the school-leaving examination in 1935. There was also
differentiation between the curriculum for males and females, with the latter
Teaching History emphasising home economics.
Is it right for governments to control
what is taught in schools? What is Teachers and lecturers were also subject to Nazi controls. Some were dismissed
under the 1933 Civil Service Law and in 1939 all teachers became Reich civil
acceptable and what is not? Does the
servants. The National Socialist Teachers’ League and National Socialist
teaching of History serve a specific
Lecturers’ League organised special ‘camps’ to reinforce Nazi values. At these
purpose? If so, what?
camps, all teachers below the age of 50 were expected to participate in sport.
The teaching profession was required to be actively anti-Semitic, and ‘Jewish’
theses, such as Einstein’s theory of relativity, were banned.

Fact It is hard to gauge the effect of Nazi youth policies, but the willingness of millions
Many scientists emigrated from Nazi of young people to fight for the Nazi cause when war broke out must suggest
Germany, including 20 past or future some degree of success. However, the quality of educational provision declined
Nobel Prize winners. Among them and extra youth activities sapped young peoples’ energies. Furthermore, there
was Albert Einstein. was active discrimination against women and Jews and, in wartime, evacuations
and the conscription of teachers further disrupted education.
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

How extensive was the persecution of

minorities within the Nazi state?
Those who failed to fit Nazi criteria for Volksgenossen were subject to
intimidation and persecution. Ideological enemies have already been considered Volksgenossen Literally ‘race
in Units 1 and 2, but two other important minority groups suffered: comrade’, this term refers to a
• asocials such as habitual criminals, the work-shy, tramps and beggars, person who was racially pure and
alcoholics, prostitutes, gay men and lesbians, and juvenile delinquents was therefore considered worthy
• biological outsiders, including those suffering hereditary defects that were of German citizenship.
considered a threat to the future of the German race and those who were
regarded as a threat because of their race, such as gypsies and Jews.

Asocials
In September 1933, 300,000–500,000 so-called beggars and tramps were rounded
up. Some (mainly the young unemployed) were given a permit (Wanderkarte) Fact
and had to perform compulsory work in return for board and lodgings, but Prisoners in Nazi concentration camps
the ‘work-shy’ were dealt with under the Law Against Dangerous Habitual were made to wear badges, usually
Criminals, 1933. They were sent to concentration camps and made to wear a triangles, to identify them. These were
black triangle. They could also be compulsorily sterilised, since ‘social deviance’ sewn on jackets and shirts and were
was considered to be biologically determined. In summer 1938, another big seen as badges of shame. Political
roundup took place under the ‘Work-shy Reich’ programme. Those arrested prisoners (socialists, communists)
were mostly sent to Buchenwald. Of the 10,000 tramps incarcerated during the had red triangles; habitual criminals,
Third Reich, few survived. green; gay men and lesbians, pink; and
certain religious people, purple.
In 1939, the Reich Central Agency for the Struggle Against Juvenile Delinquency
was established and a youth concentration camp set up in Moringen near 103
Hannover in 1940. Here, youths were subjected to biological and racial
examination and those deemed unreformable were sterilised. If the 1940
Community Alien Law had been carried out, all those considered deficient
in mind or character would have been similarly treated, but this policy was
abandoned because of the war.

Biological outsiders
In July 1933, the Nazis introduced a law demanding the compulsory sterilisation
of those suffering from specified hereditary illnesses. These included some
illnesses that had a dubious hereditary base, such as schizophrenia and ‘chronic
alcoholism’. Heredity courts were established to consider individual cases and,
between 1934 and 1945, around 350,000 people were sterilised under this law.
Fact
The euthanasia programme began
People who had been sterilised were forbidden to marry fertile partners.
when the parents of a severely
Euthanasia disabled boy petitioned Hitler for the
right to kill him. Hitler agreed and
The Nazis also launched a propaganda campaign to devalue people with mental ordered that other cases be dealt with
or physical disabilities as ‘burdens on the community’. This culminated in the in the same way.
euthanasia programme, which began in summer 1939. Practised in secret, the
programme initially targeted children under 3, but it was later extended to
children up to 16 years of age. By 1945, 5000 children had been murdered by
injection or deliberate starvation. In order to extend this programme to adults, Fact
carbon monoxide gas was used in six mental hospitals in various parts of Protests against euthanasia were led
Germany. By August 1941, when the programme was officially stopped because by the Catholic Bishop Galen. However,
of public outrage, 72,000 people had been murdered. However, between 1941 and there was no similar Church-led
1943, the secret programme ‘14F13’ led to the gassing of 30,000–50,000 in the protest against attacks on Jews.
concentration camps, on the grounds of mental illness or physical incapacity.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Gypsies
Fact
Gypsies were given different coloured The Nazis persecuted gypsies, because of their alleged inferior racial character.
There were only around 30,000 gypsies in Germany, but they were included in
papers according to their origins.
the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which banned marriage between Aryans and non-
The pure, Sinti, gypsies received
Aryans. Physical traits were analysed and efforts made to distinguish between
brown papers, the Mischlinge were
pure gypsies and half-gypsies (Mischlinge) at the Research Centre for Racial
given blue and ‘nomads’ received
Hygiene and Biological Population Studies.
grey. There was a suggestion that the
Sinti (who had kept their race ‘pure’) From December 1938, gypsies were registered and, from 1940, deported to
should be assigned areas in Bohemia Poland to work in camps. In December 1942, they were transferred to Auschwitz
and Moravia where they could live and subjected to medical experiments carried out by Dr Josef Mengele, a Nazi
traditionally as ‘museum specimens’. German SS officer known as the ‘Angel of Death’.
However, the war stopped this from
becoming more than a plan. Mengele supervised the selection of incoming prisoners to determine who
should be killed, who would become a forced labourer, and who would be used
for human medical experiments. Most of those Mengele experimented on died,
either from the experiments or later infections. He also had people killed in
Fact order to dissect them afterwards.
Mengele’s ‘research’ included an
attempt to change eye colour by It was not just the gypsies who suffered such cruelty, but of the 20,000 gypsies
injecting chemicals into children’s sent to Auschwitz, around 10,000 were murdered. Probably a total of around
eyes, experiments involving half a million gypsies were killed in occupied Europe.
the amputation of limbs, or the
injection of deadly viruses and Nazi troops hold anti-Semitic placards in front of a locked shop in an organised boycott
shock treatments. of German Jewish businesses in Berlin, 1933; one of the signs reads ‘Germans defend
yourselves! Don’t buy from the Jews!’
104
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

Jews
Fact
Although there were only about 500,000 Jews in Germany itself (less than 1% of Before 1933 in Germany, 17% of
the population), and most had been thoroughly assimilated into the German
bankers, 16% of lawyers and 10%
community, Jews were portrayed by the Nazi regime as a serious racial threat
of doctors and dentists were Jews.
and the root cause of Germany’s ills.
Jews were also influential in the
clothing and retail trades.
The first state-sponsored act of persecution was a one-day boycott of Jewish
shops and businesses in March 1933. The action was largely taken to fulfil SA
demands and was not repeated, since the economy was too fragile and fear
of international repercussions too great. The government continued to issue
contracts to Jewish firms, although Jewish civil servants were dismissed under
the Law for a Restoration of a Professional Civil Service, 1933. Persecution
increased from 1935, with the announcement of the ‘Law for Protection of
German Blood’ (Nuremberg Laws), which banned marriage between Jews and
Germans and deprived Jews of German citizenship. Fact
Himmler had encouraged an
In 1938, persecution escalated as the regime grew increasingly radical. Jews emigration policy for Jews since 1934,
were no longer awarded public contracts; all Jewish property valued at over but it met with limited success. Only
5000 Marks had to be registered and could not be sold; Jews could no longer be 120,000 of around 500,000 Jews had
employed in businesses; Jewish doctors, dentists and lawyers were forbidden left Germany by 1937 – and many
to offer services to Aryans; all Jewish children were required to bear the names had subsequently returned. The
Israel or Sarah in addition to other names; and Jews were obliged to carry annexation of Austria in 1938 had
identity cards and have their passports stamped with a ‘J’. added 190,000 Jews to the German
Reich and led to an intensified
On Reichskristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), 9/10 November 1938, there emigration policy whereby 45,000
were attacks on synagogues, businesses, homes and shops – leaving broken were forced to leave Austria in six
105
glass (like ‘crystal’) everywhere. Hundreds of Jews were injured, 91 murdered months. During 1939, 78,000 more
and 20,000 sent to concentration camps on ‘the night the national soul boiled Jews were forced out of Germany
over’. The official excuse for the attacks was the murder by a Jew of Ernst von and 30,000 from Bohemia and
Rath, a German diplomatic official in Paris. In reality, this orgy of violence was Moravia in Czechoslovakia.
orchestrated by Goebbels.

Increasing numbers of Jews emigrated between 1934 and 1939, as they were
expelled from economic life, schools, cinemas, universities, theatres and sports Historical debate
facilities. In cities, they were even forbidden to enter areas designated ‘for No written order to exterminate the
Aryans only’ and, in January 1939, Hitler threatened ‘the annihilation of the Jews exists. However, intentionalists
Jewish race in Europe’ in the event of war. such as Christopher Browning and
Andreas Hillgruber believe orders
The invasion of Poland in September 1939 added 3 million Jews to the German were given in the summer of 1941
empire. Jews were placed in ghettos where they were forbidden to change
when it was felt Russia would soon
residence, were subject to a curfew, had to wear a yellow star on their clothing
collapse. Goering’s order to Reinhard
and were compelled to perform labour service.
Heydrich, Himmler’s deputy in the
SS, on 31 July 1941, ‘to bring about
A final attempt to rid the German Empire of Jews – the Madagascar Plan of
a complete solution of the Jewish
summer 1940 – had to be abandoned after Hitler’s failure to conquer Britain left
question within the German sphere
the British in control of the sea. This left millions of European Jews facing death
– through malnutrition and hard labour, and by mass shootings as the Germans of influence in Europe’ supports
advanced into Russia from June 1941. Following the Wannsee Conference this. However, structuralists such as
of January 1942, Jews were gassed in the extermination camps created at Mommsen and Broszat believe the
Auschwitz, Chelmo, Majdanek and Treblinka, an event ambiguously referred to order came in the autumn when the
as the ‘final solution’. Around 6 millions Jews died in the camps. The operation policy of Jewish resettlement east of
was shrouded in secrecy, but the fact that scarce resources were diverted to the Urals was wrecked by Germany’s
facilitate this Holocaust at a time when the Germans were struggling in the war failure to defeat Russia.
gives some indication of the irrationality of Nazism.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

What was the relationship between the Nazis

and the Churches within Germany?
Germany contained both Protestants (58% of the population) and Catholics
Fact (32%), as well as other religious groups. Some of these, such as the Jehovah’s
German Protestantism was associated Witnesses, refused to compromise with the regime and were deported to
with patriotic support for the state, concentration camps.
nationalism and right-wing political
views. So, like the Nazis, German The mainstream Churches proved much easier to influence. This is partly
Protestants disliked the political left because the Protestant and Catholic Churches shared a good deal of common
and Marxism. The Roman Catholic ideological ground with Nazism, in their dislike of Marxism, their conservatism,
Church was also anti-Bolshevist and belief in family values and underlying anti-Semitism (even if in principle they
spoke against it).
keen to show its national loyalty.

However, Hitler’s determination to set up an Aryanised social community left

little room for religion. He feared an outright attack on the Churches would
do more harm than good, but he wanted to restrict the Churches to a purely
spiritual role. This ran counter to the desire of most churchmen to maintain the
Church’s role in other activities such as youth groups.

The Protestant Church

The Protestant Church, which had Lutheran and Calvinist branches, had never
been fully united and, with the rise of Nazism, a ‘German Christian’ movement
Ludwig Müller (1883–1946) emerged calling for a new national ‘People’s Church’. This was mainly supported
Ludwig Müller held strongly by young pastors and theology students who saw the Nazis’ ‘national uprising’
106 nationalist and anti-Semitic views as the opportunity for religious as well as political renewal. The German
and was a staunch Nazi supporter. He Christians described themselves as the SA of the Church and adopted uniforms,
became influential in the association marches and salutes. Their motto was ‘the swastika on our breasts and the
of German Christians and in 1933 cross in our hearts’.
was appointed as the country’s
Reich bishop of the Protestant In May 1933, Hitler set up the Reich Church with the help of the German
Church. However, he was increasingly Christians, and he appointed a Reich bishop to co-ordinate the Protestant
marginalised and committed suicide churches under his authority. In July, Ludwig Müller took this position and
in 1946. German Christians were appointed as state bishops and given other senior
positions in the Church.

Some German Christians even wanted to remove the Old Testament from
religious practice, calling it ‘Jewish’. However, not all members of the Protestant
Martin Niemöller (1892–
Church approved of the German Christians and certainly not of their more
1984) Niemöller was a co-founder
outspoken devotees.
of the Confessional Church. In 1933,
he was working as a Protestant pastor
In September 1933, a group of 100 pastors headed by Martin Niemöller set up
in Berlin where he initially welcomed
the Pastors’ Emergency League to resist the German Christians and defend
Hitler as chancellor. However, he
traditional Lutheranism. Some members of this League were arrested, including
opposed Hitler’s efforts to politicise Bishop Meiser of Bavaria and Bishop Wurm of Württemberg in 1934, provoking
the Church. He was arrested in 1937 mass demonstrations.
for his outspokenness and sent
to Sachsenhausen concentration In October 1934, the Pastors’ Emergency League formally broke with the Reich
camp. During his time in prison he Church to form their own Confessional Church. This led Hitler to abandon his
repudiated his earlier anti-Semitism. attempt to impose direct control on the Protestant Church through the Reich
He was released by the Allies in 1945. bishop. The bishops of Bavaria and Württemberg were reinstated and orthodox
officials and bishops allowed to continue in their positions.
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

This left the Protestant Church divided into three:

• the ‘official’ Reich Church under Müller, which co-operated with the regime
but tried to retain organisational autonomy
• the German Christians, who tried to control the Reich Church but whose
influence declined
• the Confessional Church, which formed an oppositional Church and was
subject to harassment from both the state and other Church authorities but
had strong support in some areas.

From 1934, the Church suffered less from direct persecution than from attempts
to curb its activities. Confessional schools were abolished, religious teaching confessional school This
downgraded in schools, and young people’s time taken up with the Hitler Youth term refers to a state school in
to such an extent that attendance at Sunday services as well as participation which specific Church teaching was
in other Church activities was hindered. The weakening of the Church was, allowed. During the Weimar Republic,
however, sporadic and unco-ordinated, because of the way the Nazi state was confessional schools dominated
run, with some Gauleiters being far more anti-religious than others. the education system, with 55% of
primary and secondary schools being
The Catholic Church Lutheran, 28% Catholic, and 15%
non-denominational. The remainder
The Catholic Church came to terms with the Nazis, agreeing to the dissolution
followed other religious faiths.
of the Centre Party and, in July 1933, signing a Concordat. According
to the Concordat, the Vatican recognised the Nazi regime and promised not
to interfere in politics. In return, the state promised not to interfere in the
Catholic Church, which would keep control over its educational, youth and
communal organisations.

However, between 1933 and 1939, the Nazis increasingly tried to go back on their 107
promises. They used propaganda insulting the clergy and Catholic practices to
encourage anti-Catholic feeling. Catholic schools were closed and had almost
disappeared by 1939. Catholic organisations and societies were also removed. Theory of knowledge
For example, in 1936, Church youth organisations were disbanded when the
Hitler Youth became compulsory.
History and guilt
In 1937, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical With Burning Anxiety (Mit Brennender The Catholic Church faced post-war
Sorge), attacking Nazi beliefs. This was smuggled into Germany and read out in accusations of collaborating with
Catholic churches. However, his successor in 1939, Pius XII, failed to condemn Nazism and the Vatican issued a
Nazism outright and has been criticised for his tolerance of the regime. formal apology for failing to oppose
the Holocaust in 1998. Were these
Bishop Galen’s protest against euthanasia in 1941 was the most outspoken accusations fair? Has the apology
criticism to come from a Catholic prelate but, although between a third and a made any difference? Can an apology
half of Catholic clergy were harassed by the regime, only one Catholic bishop ever atone for mistakes made in
was expelled and one imprisoned for any length of time, suggesting that protest the past?
against the Nazis was limited.

The German Faith Movement, neo-Paganism and ‘positive

Christianity’
Moves to weaken the Church were not always well co-ordinated. In the mid
1930s, a ‘Church Secession’ campaign deliberately encouraged Germans to
abandon the Churches. Some members of the Nazi Party, though not Hitler
himself, encouraged the pagan German Faith Movement. This embraced several
beliefs that fitted well with Nazism, including a belief in Blut und Boden (blood
and soil) ideology and the rejection of Christian ethics.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Although it remained a small sect, at its height the German Faith Movement had
Fact around 200,000 supporters and was particularly strong among the SS. Paganism
Other pagan influences included the also influenced policy. For example, carols and nativity plays were banned
use of ancient Germanic names for from schools in 1938 and the word ‘Christmas’ was forbidden and replaced by
the names of the months, the removal Yuletide in the war years.
of Church holidays from special status
and campaigns against the use of Overall, the record of the Churches in the period of Nazi domination is not
the crucifix. one of which they were to feel proud in later years. As organisations, they
almost completely surrendered to the Nazi political leadership, although the
breakaway Confessional Church and some individual clergymen (see profiles
on Niemöller and Bonhoeffer) were able to stand out as symbols of religious
opposition to Nazism.

However, Christianity as such does not seem to have been affected. Church
attendance remained steady, and even increased in the war years, making
Christian belief an obstacle to a fully totalitarian state.

How did Nazism affect the arts and cultural

life?
The Nazis believed that Germany’s impressive cultural history placed the arts
Fact in a unique position in German society. Both élite art, such as classical music,
Weimar culture is epitomised in paintings, sculpture and theatre, and the more popular arts such as film, radio
the works of the playwright Bertolt broadcasting and light entertainment were perceived as media for reinforcing
Brecht, the musician Kurt Weill, Germans’ shared statehood and race. Nazis despised the modernist styles of
the artist George Grosz and the the ‘decadent’ Weimar era and looked to exploit ‘traditional’ art forms that
108
architects of the Bauhaus movement. were unadventurous, of high moral standing, dominated by Aryanism and that
Investigate some of their works and glorified a mythical past.
compare them with what followed
during the Nazi era. The main themes of the arts included:
• ‘blood and soil’, in which the peasant was cast as the representative of the
‘pure’ Aryan blood of the German people and his struggles with the soil and
the weather were glorified
• anti-feminism, as reflected in the ‘Gretchen Myth’, with its emphasis on pre-
industrial images of women
• anti-Semitism, which permeated all aspects of composition and performance
as well as colouring the themes of literature and film
• order, as reflected in a return to the classical tradition (particularly in
sculpture and architecture), with solidity of style and a sense of dominance
and purpose which served to underpin Nazi notions of the superiority of the
state and the permanence of the Reich.

Goebbels was made minister of propaganda and popular enlightenment in 1933

and his office imposed rigorous censorship on all art forms, encouraging only
those that conveyed a suitable propaganda message. In May 1933, Goebbels
co-ordinated a ‘burning of the books’. This symbolically and physically destroyed
works associated with Jews, Bolsheviks and ‘Negroes’, as well as anything seen
as ‘decadent’ and ‘un-German’.

The annual Great German Art exhibition was another propaganda pageant,
and the Reich Kulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture) ensured that only arts
‘suitable’ for the masses were permitted. An individual’s artistic tastes could
become the subject of a report by their local block warden.
 4 Domestic policies and their impact

Many artists were expelled, or went into voluntary exile. For example, the
conductors Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer, the composers Schönberg,
Hindemith and Kurt Weill, and the singers Marlene Dietrich and Lotte Lenya all
left the country.

In the concert hall, the works of the Jewish composers Mahler and Mendelssohn
were banned. Modernist paintings were removed from art galleries. The Nazis
also tried to prohibit American jazz and foreign dance-band music, which was
referred to as Niggermusik.

However, some artists remained and helped to give the regime respectability.
Composers such as Richard Strauss, who became the first president of the Reich
Chamber of Music, and singers such as Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, performed for
the regime.

The spread of the Volksempfänger (people’s receiver), a mass-produced radio

found in over 70% of German homes by 1939, increased the number of
listeners who could enjoy German classical music, which was mixed with light
entertainment and traditional Germanic tunes and songs. Composers such as
Anton Bruckner and Richard Wagner became popular heroes and attracted a
mass following, as concerts were filmed to reach a wider audience, and skilfully
edited shots of the audience reaction were displayed to reinforce the desired
patriotic message.

The Wagnerian Bayreuth Festival was turned from an élitist minority interest
into a great popular festival, as were art exhibitions and some theatrical
performances. Attendance at arts events was subsidised and encouraged 109
through works outings and special ‘Strength through Joy’ or Hitler Youth events.
However, in popularising the arts, the Reich Kulturkammer often resorted to
commissioning second-rate artists, as well as forcing those who possessed real
talent into narrow and restrictive paths.

Films were seen as a useful popular diversion – partly propagandist and partly
to provide relaxation and to offer a ‘shared experience’, binding the community Fact
together. Sound was relatively new and was developed to great effect in feature The most famous films of the era,
films. The Reich Film Chamber controlled both the content of German films and Hitler Youth Quex (1933), Jud Süss
the foreign films that could be shown. (1940) and Ohm Krüger (1941) (which
was about British atrocities during
Some great producers, such as Leni Riefenstahl, flourished and produced the Boer War), all had clear political
works of art, even if the ideological themes were controversial. However, messages. However, the messages
some films lacked subtlety and The Eternal Jew was so horrific that members were conveyed subtly and the films
of the audience fainted and box office receipts fell away. The cinema was used are deemed to have some artistic
to show newsreels before the main picture and admission was restricted to merit. Leni Riefenstahl, who produced
the beginning of a programme, so all filmgoers had to sit through a certain the Triumph of Will (1935) about the
amount of propaganda. Nuremberg Party Rally and Olympia
(1938) on the 1936 Olympic Games
The impact of Nazism on the arts was contradictory. Not everything produced
held in Berlin, was a particularly
in Nazi Germany was an artistic disaster, but much individual creativity and
innovative and talented director.
inspiration was lost in the interests of Gleichschaltung (see page 72) and the
desire to use culture as a propagandist tool. Some positive advances occurred
despite, rather than because of, Nazi values. Music suffered the least, since
it was played as written, but other art forms were reduced to fake posturing.
After the war, artistic expression in West Germany seemed to pick up where the
Weimar Republic had left off, almost as though the Nazi era had never existed.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

End of unit activities

1 Draw up a table to show the economic concerns of the Nazi government
at key dates during the Nazis’ time in power and their success in dealing
with these issues:

Key stages in the development of the Nazi economy

Main policies Success? Failure?

1933–36
1936–42
1942–45

2 Find out more about Schacht, Goering and Speer. Make a case for which of
these men helped the Nazi government the most in his economic policies
and actions. This could lead to a class debate.
3 Draw a diagram to show the various influences to which young people were
subject in Nazi Germany.
4 Choose one aspect of Nazi culture and prepare a Powerpoint® presentation
for your class in which you show how that art form was used as propaganda
in this period.
5 Who gained most from the Nazi economy? Research the impact of economic
policy on each of the following groups (you may like to divide these between
110 members of your class):
• big business
• small traders
• peasant farmers
• factory workers.
6 Draw a spider diagram to show the influences behind changes to education
in the Nazi era.
7 Find out more about alternative youth movements – the Swing Movement,
the Edelweiss Pirates and the White Rose group.
8 Make a summary chart assessing whether the Nazis’ social policies in the
following areas were a success or a failure:

Area Policies Success? Failure? Comment

Women
Youth
Education
Religion
Minorities
Culture and
the arts

What are the problems in assessing the success of Nazi social policy?

9 Why did the German Churches not offer more resistance to the Nazi
regime?
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

End of chapter activities

Paper 1 exam practice
Question
What message is suggested by Source A below about the Führerprinzip (the
personal importance of Hitler in Nazi leadership)
[2 marks]

Skill
Comprehension of a source

Source A
My German comrades!
I speak to you today … first, in order that you should hear my voice and
should know that I am unhurt and well and secondly that you should
know that there has been a crime unparalleled in German history. A
very small clique of ambitious, irresponsible and, at the same time,
senseless and stupid officers have concocted a plot to eliminate me
and, with me, the staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht [armed 111
forces]. The bomb planted by Colonel Count Stauffenberg … seriously
wounded a number of my true and loyal collaborators … [but] I myself
am entirely unhurt, aside from some minor bruises, scratches and
burns. I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by
Providence … The circle of these traitors is very small and has nothing
in common with the spirit of the German Wehrmacht and, above all,
none with the German people. It is a gang of criminal elements, which
will be destroyed without mercy.

From a personal radio broadcast made by Hitler to the German people on

21 July 1944, following the failure of the July Bomb Plot. Quoted in Noakes,
J. 1998. Nazism 1919–1945: Vol. 4, The German Home Front in World War
II: A Documentary Reader. Exeter, UK. University of Exeter Press. p. 111.

Examiner’s tips
Comprehension questions test your basic understanding of a source and your
comments need to be supported by some specific detail from that source. Ideally,
you should try to make two or three separate points, providing a sentence on
each. Since there are only 2 marks available for this question, answers should
not be too long.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Common mistakes
It is easy to comment about the topic of the source rather than the source
itself. Try to keep to the specific content of the source rather than providing
extraneous own knowledge.

Simplified markscheme
For each item of relevant/correct information identified, award 1 mark – up to
a maximum of 2 marks.

Student answer

Source A is about the Führerprinzip, which means ‘leadership

principle’. Hitler had created a one-party state in Germany
dependent on his all-powerful leadership. Without this, he believed
the state could not function. That is why it was important that
the Führer survived the bomb plot on his life.

Examiner’s comments
112 The candidate has shown an excellent knowledge of the Führerprinzip, but
has failed to comment directly on the source. There is a brief link in the last
sentence to the occasion but there is no direct reference to the specific timing,
relevance or detail of the speech. This answer would therefore only be worthy
of 1 mark.

Activity
Look closely at the source and see how many examples of statements
demonstrating or explaining the Führerprinzip you can find. Look at the content
and the meaning conveyed in Hitler’s use of language and the references he
makes. Could you, for example, comment meaningfully on the sentence ‘I
regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by Providence …’ or
draw a message from the last sentence?

Summary activity
Nazi Germany has been the subject of much historiographical debate. The
diagram on the next page raises some key questions that have taxed historians
trying to understand the truth of the Nazi German state. Having considered the
issues they raise in the course of this chapter, you should be in a position to
tackle them yourself. There are no easy answers. As with so much in History, the
answers are likely to involve a compromise between support for different sides
of the debate. However, it is in thinking through these compromises that you
can hope to get nearer to understanding the complexities of the Nazi state.
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

The origins of the Third Reich Hitler and the Nazi state
• Why did Weimar Germany collapse? • Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state?
• Was its fall inevitable? • Was Hitler a strong or weak dictator?

Propaganda and repression Economy

• Was propaganda more important than • How important was ideology in economic
repression? policy?
• Was Nazi Germany a ‘police state’? • Was Nazi economic policy successful?

Ideology Women and youth

• What was the appeal of Nazism? Key • Did women lose or gain from Nazi policies?
• Was Nazi ideology backward-looking or new questions • Did the Nazis succeed in imposing their
and revolutionary? ideology on youth?

Churches and minorities Consolidation of power

• Did Hitler rely on legal means to
113
• Did the Nazis succeed in controlling the
Churches? consolidate power?
• Why did the Nazis persecute ‘outsiders’ and • How extensive was opposition to
pursue the ‘final solution’? Nazi rule?

Culture, arts and the impact of Nazism

• Were culture and the arts merely forms of
propaganda in the Nazi state?
• Did the Nazi regime succeed in creating a
Volksgemeinschaft?

Paper 2 practice questions

1 Analyse the methods and conditions that enabled Hitler to rise to power in
Germany.
2 Assess the importance of ideology in Hitler’s rise to power.
3 Evaluate the way in which Hitler was able to consolidate his rule between
January 1933 and the end of 1938.
4 How successful were Hitler’s economic policies?
5 Examine the status and role of women in Nazi Germany.
6 To what extent were the lives of ordinary German families affected by
Nazism in the years 1938 and 1939?
 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

Further reading
Try reading the relevant chapter/sections of the following books:

Bessel, R. 1987. Life in the Third Reich. Oxford, UK. Oxford University Press.
Evans, R. J. 2003. The Coming of the Third Reich. London, UK. Penguin Books.
Evans, R. J. 2005. The Third Reich in Power. London, UK. Penguin Books.
Evans, R. J. 2008. The Third Reich at War. London, UK. Penguin Books.
Grunberger, R. 1971. A Social History of the Third Reich. London, UK. Penguin
Books.
Housden, M. 1996. Resistance and Conformity in the Third Reich. London, UK.
Routledge.
Kershaw, I. 1985. The Nazi Dictatorship – Problems and Perspectives of Interpretations.
London, UK. Arnold.
Kershaw, I. 1998. Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris. London, UK. Penguin Books.
Kershaw, I. 2000. Hitler 1936–1945: Nemesis. London, UK. Penguin Books.
Overy, R. 2004. The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia. London, UK. Allen
Lane/Penguin Books.
Stackelberg, R. and Winkle, S. A. (eds). 2002. The Nazi Germany Sourcebook: An
Anthology of Texts. London, UK. Routledge.

114